Grief is Just Love
by CreativityIsIntelligence
Summary: With the closest people to heart now gone, Sakura finds herself in constant fear of being swallowed by the darkness that now occupies the furthest corners of her mind. Will she come out as the victor in a battle against her own demons? Or will she finally succumb to the darkness? SakuMulti, MultiSaku.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Grief is just love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 1,738

Page Count: 6 (Six)

Genre: hurt/comfort and maybe a little bit of romance here and there

Paring: SakuMulti (So Sakura paired up with multiple guys hence the name Saku _Multi_ )

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Emphasize_ (or it could just mean sarcasm)

 **Emphasize (2)**

….

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. (I don't know about the summary I might just change it soon)

* * *

 **Prologue**

Three figures could be seen walking through the dirt road that led to Konoha. After a month away from their beloved village, they were finally heading back home. They had traveled to many beautiful and unique places over the course of their trip, but nothing could compare to Konoha, at least not in their eyes. Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno had insisted they go on this trip, saying that it would be a fun family experience, but the truth was they both noticed how their daughter had been drifting away from them, especially since she has recently just graduated and was placed on a team with the Uchiha. They knew they couldn't stop their daughter from growing up but they didn't want to let her go yet.

"Are you excited to be back again, Sakura?" Mebuki asked looking down at her giddy daughter, she was practically skipping, it warmed her heart to see her daughter so happy.

"Yes! I'm so happy, I missed Sasuke Kun so much" she said clasping her hands near her heart as she twirled around in her red dress.

Kizashi's expression turned sour, he opened his mouth about to remark on _'Sasuke Kun'_ when suddenly they heard a rustling sound, they all immediately froze, after a few minutes in silence they decided to pass it off as a wild animal.

Before anyone of them could react, a figure jumped down from a nearby tree, landing in front of them. The man easily towered above all of them, he had a muscular build, was bald and had a scar the went all the way from his scalp to down his left eye and across his cheek, he was wearing nothing but black and he had many weapons strapped across his body, some visible others not. He was holding a large dagger in his hand as he sent them, particularly Sakura, a bloodthirsty stare and his mouth twisted into a wide grin.

Quickly stepping in front of his family, Kizashi tried to ease their fear by trying to put up a brave front but he was trembling profusely, he grabbed Mebuki's hand

"Mebuki, honey listen to me, I want you to take Sakura and run to the village as fast as you can, make sure that you both get out alive and…I love you two deeply, please remember that"

"I will and I love you too" Mebuki whispered back, tears were running down her face, she didn't want to leave her husband she loved him, but her daughter – her daughter was still young, she had a long life ahead of her, and she as her parent had to make sure that she was safe and that she would have a future, Kizashi had already done his job, it was her turn.

Grabbing her daughter's hand, she ran as fast as she could towards her village, dragging her confused and horrified daughter with her. Behind Mebuki she could hear her husband charging in with a battle cry but she didn't stop even when she faintly heard the gurgling sound that was sure to be the sound of her husband choking on his own blood, she didn't even stop when her daughter tried to pull her back towards her father finally fully realizing what was happening.

Minutes passed and nothing happened but Mebuki didn't slow down. Just as the village gates came into view, she felt something sharp lodge itself into her back, her blood splattered onto Sakura's pale face. Sakura screamed, she told her to stop but her mother didn't listen she ran and ran until she couldn't, she collapsed, and when Sakura came to kneel beside her she used the last of her energy to shout.

"RUN SAKURA! RUN!"

So, she ran, Sakura ran as fast as she could, not looking back, for fear of that she might find the man close behind her, holding up his dagger that was now thoroughly coated with her parents' crimson blood. It felt like hours before Konoha gate came into view, she ignored the guards that yelled at her to stop, she kept running, she passed many people all of which stopped to stare at the crying, blood covered girl.

"SAKURA!?"

Sakura didn't know who screamed out to her but she didn't stop, after a few minutes she skidded to a stop and turned her hand from left to right trying to find anything or anyone that might help her, the Hokage tower was too far away, she had to find someone else. Her emerald eyes spotted a tall white building, she ran to it and slammed it's doors open, everyone's eyes turned toward her and immediately a nurse came up.

"Oh God! what happe – " the female nurse said stretching her hand out to touch the trembling girl but Sakura grabbed her hand and started to drag her out of the hospital, at first the nurse seemed to resist but once she fully comprehended the state she was in she relented.

Like before, Sakura didn't stop as the guards screamed at her, nor when one disappeared and the other followed her, he didn't seem as though he was trying to stop her, only follow her, it didn't matter to her as long as he didn't get in her way.

Sakura stared at her parents' bodies in pure horror and the nurse next her fell to her knee puking her guts out. the man had moved her parents' bodies so that the were lying next to each other, their bodies were cut up. Her mother's stomach was sliced open, her father's head was detached from his body, they had multiple needles sticking out of their torso and both of them had no arms or legs. Sakura soon followed the nurse and barfed everything out.

Sakura whipped the back of her hand across her mouth, she turned her head to look at the nurse who refused to face the awful sight again. Deep down she knew they were dead, long gone, but she was desperate, she didn't want to lose them. She didn't know what to do without them.

"What are you doing? Heal them!" the nurse desperately shook her head, she was no help, she couldn't do anything to help her parents.

"I'm sorry I can't, no one can, they're dead" Panic started to take over her body. She can't, she won't believe it, her parents are alive and if the nurse wouldn't heal them than she would.

"Fine of you won't do it I will" Sakura said steeling her resolve. She was scared, she knew that this was dangerous, she o had only ever watched the nurses and doctors do it from afar, and she had no idea how it worked or what you were supposed to do, but the thought of losing her parents terrified her more.

Forcing chakra to her hands, Sakura's hand began to burn as what looked like a blue flame slowly began to surround both her hands. Tears were falling from her eyes but she didn't stop, she moved closer to her parents' bodies her hands dripping with blood. Just as her hands were about to touch her mother's torn body someone appeared behind her grabbing her shoulders successfully stopping her attempt and healing her obviously dead parents.

Sakura struggled against their firm grip, desperate to get to her parents, the burnt skin on her hands had all but fallen off, and her whole hand was covered in the dark crimson color of her own blood. Before Sakura could struggle further, a pair of hands came down on specific points on her arms. Sakura screamed out as the chakra on her hands slowly diminished and her hands went limb, they had blocked her chakra pathways.

Tears raced down her face as sobs racked her fragile body. This couldn't be happening, her parents can't be dead. No, no they couldn't possibly be dead, she didn't want to believe it, she couldn't.

Looking at the motionless bodies, Sakura started to struggle again trying with all her power to get closer to their bodies, she wasn't going to let them die. She thrashed and screamed, she did all she could to get away from the person who was holding her tightly. She was prepared to fight, but before she could do anything, Sakura felt pressure on the back of her neck, darkness started to creep into the edges of her vision and before she knew it the darkness had taken over and she had fallen into dreamless slumber.

* * *

 **Author note:** I know I should be focusing on 'Mistake Unforgiven' but I really wanted to write this, plus I already wrote r two or three other chapters for this fic and am already editing them but don't worry I'm almost finished with chapter two of 'Mistake Unforgiven' and I began on chapter three.

Anyway guys please review, and I would just like to say helpful criticism is appreciated but by that I don't mean I want you to write something like 'UGLY, UGLY, UGLY' because I swear someone once did that, it didn't really bother me much and I really can't blame him or her since it was on of my earlier fic's which I have long since deleted, now putting all of that aside, I just think that if you're going to take the effort to write a review might as well make it helpful or supportive or at the very least positive.

Good luck on whatever you need it for, whether it's a project, writing a fanfiction or even a test or homework even though it's only July. Bye


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Grief is just love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 4,013

Page Count: 8 (Eight)

Genre: hurt/comfort and maybe a little bit of romance here and there

Paring: SakuMulti (So Sakura paired up with multiple guys hence the name Saku _Multi_ )

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Emphasize_ (or it could just mean sarcasm)

'Inner'

….

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. MultiSaku, SakuMulti

Chapter Two

Sarutobi looked down at the pinkette laying on the hospital bed. Her skin was dull and pale, it was almost white, so much, that it almost blended into the white sheets that surrounded her. Small scratches and bruises littered her body, but the most severe injuries were her hands. As that thought passed through his mind, he found his eyes straying down to her bandaged hands, he had seen her hand right before the doctors had bandaged it, but he hadn't realized just how severe the burns were before then, he had only assumed but he couldn't have been sure because of all the blood that covered her injury, though that in itself had given him an idea.

Though he must say, he had been quite impressed at what he had seen her do, she was a natural at chakra control. She had been able to summon chakra to her hand, which was no easy feat, he himself had not been able to accomplish it until he had reached the age of fifteen. Even though it had ended up injuring her, it was still an amazing achievement, though he isn't sure that is how Sakura sees it.

He was suddenly torn from his thoughts by the sound of a pained groan, he looked up to see Sakura trying to seat up. He immediately went to her side to assist her, placing a hand on her back, he genteelly pushed her up until she was properly seated.

"How are you feeling Sakura?" He asked her softly but Sakura didn't seem to register the question, that or she chose to ignore him. She looked around the hospital room dazedly, confusion dancing in her jade eyes. Realization seemed to dawn on her, after a moment she slowly looked down at her hands. The moment she saw the state she was in, she seemed horrified, even more so when she fully realized what this actually meant.

"Where are my parents?" Her voice was empty and she refused to meet his gaze, keeping her eyes glued to her hands.

"I'm sorry, they're –" he tried to continue but those few words were all that Sakura needed to hear.

Sarutobi could see the tears gathering in her eyes but she stubbornly refused to let them fall, he knew that she did not want to cry in front of him, so he stood up and prepared to leave the room. He had been hoping to talk to her and maybe ask her what exactly had happen, it was unusual for a missing nin to be so close to a hidden village's borders but it was obvious that Sakura would not be much help in her current state.

Just as his fingers curled around the handle, he turned around to face Sakura, who was looking down at her hands, her long cherry blossom locks acting as a curtain, shielding her from his eyes.

"It's not your fault" with those words he left the room.

'But it is, it's my fault they're dead. If I had just been stronger, if I had been paying attention in class when I was in the academy. If I had actually participated in team training, if I had used some of my spare time to train instead of daydreaming about Sasuke Kun or coming up with excuses to get out of training...if I had been _stronger_ than they wouldn't be dead'

'Maybe your right, maybe if you had trained you would have been able to beat that man or at least save your parents, but you didn't train and you can't do anything about it, but you can do something now, you can still become strong'

'Why would I need to get stronger? They're dead, I have nothing to get stronger for'

'Wow, are you really that selfish? Your friends, team seven, THE VILLAGE, does any of that mean anything to you? Even if your parents have died, don't you want to protect your precious people? Sasuke Kun, Kakashi Sensei, Iruka Sensei, hell even Naruto and Ino, do they mean nothing to you? Do they not make you want to become stronger, to protect them'

Inner's speech had done little to make Sakura feel better, tears still streamed from her eyes, and as Sakura peeked up through her hair with teary eyes, she realized that the Hokage was gone, and with that realization she let go.

Hours ticked by and Sakura was still crying, she sobbed and screamed. It had come to a point where Sakura was sure that everyone had heard her pathetic display, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She cried for her parents, she cried because she wasn't going to ever see them again, no more goodbye kisses, no hugs before she went to the academy, no more family meals, and most of all she cried because she had no one to love as her mother and father had.

It might have been easier for her to cope had she had anyone to trust and lean on, a relative… _family._ Alas she had no such thing, both her grandparents, on her mother's side as well as her father's, had passed away before she ever had the chance to meet them. Both her mother and father were single children like her, so she had no aunts or uncles to look to. She was alone.

'Alone' the word echoed through her head.

* * *

Days turned into weeks and it wasn't long before Sakura had lost count of how many days she had spent cooped up in her hospital room. The doctors said that she wouldn't be leaving the hospital until the burns in her hands were healed, though they did say that the burn marks wouldn't leave for a while.

Sakura was currently sitting on her stiff hospital bed, idly swinging her legs off the edge, the Hokage was finishing off the last of the release paperwork. She had abandoned the loose hospital gown for something more practical, a word, she now realized, rarely associated with her wardrobe, and her in general. She was wearing a white cami, royal blue Jounin style sweatpants, and normal shinobi sandals. A nurse had kindly let her barrow them, she told her they used to belong to her daughter, who also happened to be a Shinobi, but she had grown out of them, and luckily enough they had fit Sakura 'spetit form perfectly.

Just as Sakura began to sink deeper into her thoughts a nurse popped her head through the door, she flashed Sakura a smile and spoke in a high pitched voice "the Hokage is waiting for you near the door" with that said she left the room.

Sakura hopped of the bed landing with a soft thud, she exited the room and headed to the main exit to meet the Hokage, he greeted her as she walked closer, and she replied with a nod and a quick, but respectful bow, and immediately they headed out.

The walk to Sakura's house was one spent in silence, and Sakura enjoyed it. She took a deep breath, and for once in a long time she did not smell anesthesia or blood, she was relishing her freedom from that cramped room that seemed to get smaller as the days went by.

"They really miss you" he said absentmindedly, thinking of all the times they had barged into his office, a certain blonde demanding to know when his 'Sakura Chan' would back, saying if he was not told he would not leave the office. Even though the other two members didn't say anything, they didn't leave the office nor did they try to stop their third member.

Sakura immediately knew exactly who he was talking about, who else could it be? Though she really doubted they had missed her, she was nothing but and annoying fan girl. Why would Kakashi Sensei miss her, she would always shout at him for being late, always gives him excuses to get out of practice. Sasuke would never miss her, in fact she'd even bet he would be glad to have her out of his hair for a while, one less fan girl. She's be the first one to admit, at least now, that she was obsessive, always distracted him for training, and was just plain creepy now that she thought about it. Naruto, if she was Naruto she would have thrown a party, but she knew Naruto wouldn't, he was too nice, he shouldn't miss her, she always hit him for no reason, rejected him every time without batting a lash in the most harsh way she could think of and she never stood up for him, she was more like the one against him, no matter what he did, it was never enough for her, with that being said she did not doubt for a second that he had missed her…even if he had no reason to.

Even with those bitter thoughts running through her mind, she still forced a smile to her lips, she didn't want give away anything she was thinking of to the Hokage, she really didn't want to worry him, he has already done enough for her.

"I miss them as well" at least that wasn't a lie, she really had missed her boys over the course of her travels, even Naruto, and that was saying something.

"They'll be glade to hear it" and he was sure they would be, especially the knuckle head of the team, Sarutobi knew he would be _ecstatic_ to find out his crush had missed him.

As Sakura's house came into view, she jogged to the door not wanting to continue the conversation, she did not want to be rude either so she turned around to face him, she really owed at lest this to him, though she knew she owed him a lot more.

"Thank you" and after a second she added "for everything"

Sarutobi smiled sagely at her and nodded before turning around and making his way back.

Sakura turned her body back to face the wooden door, her fingers clutched around the knob. Entering the house, she closed the door behind her and set her duffle bag on a near by coffee table. Her glossy emerald eyes roamed over her quaint house. As she caught sight of the dining table an image flashed before her eyes, her mother, father, and herself sitting around the table, her mother asking her about Sasuke, her blushing and mumbling an answer, while her father sulked, grumbling about how his little princess didn't need any man, besides him of course, but just as quickly as the image came she shook her head to get rid of it, it hurt to think about those simple but still special moments she had shared with her parents.

Thinking of a way she could keep herself busy, Sakura noticed how dusty everything was, almost everything in the house was covered in a fine layer of dust. With her mind already working on a plan on how to clean everything the most effectively, she walked to the cleaning supply closet. Grabbing everything she would need she wasted no time on getting started.

Hours passed and Sakura had pretty much cleaned every room in her humble abode aside from the very room she was standing in front of, her parents' bedroom. She had been planning to clean it earlier on but she just kept putting it off.

Sakura looked around, everything was spotless, that is everything but her. The white cami she had been wearing was now a dirty beige, her sweatpants were pretty fine considering that they were a dark color but there were still splotches from when she had accidentally spilled some of the cleaning solution on herself, as well as some dirt that had stubbornly clung to the edges. Her clothes weren't the only things to get dirtied, her pale skin was caked with dirt and so were the strands of pink hair that had fallen from the bun she had put it into before she began cleaning, to get it out of her way.

'I'm dirty and hungry,I wouldn't do as good as a job as I know I can, maybe I could start on it later...yeah'

With that the pinkette turned around and headed to her room. She dug through her duffle bag for her hygienic products, an ANBU had found it while investigating the scene of the crime. She walked to the bathroom, making sure to shut and lock the door behind her, she quickly undressed and hoped under the shower head. Twisting the knob, she nearly jumped out of her skin once the cold water touched her skin but she soon relaxed as it steadily began to heat up.

Sakura quickly finished off her shower, she didn't bother to look in the mirror like she always did, she didn't even bother to wrap a towel around her body, she just stepped into her room in her birthday suite. Putting on a bar and underwear, Sakura then proceeded to randomly picked out a top and bottom to wear, quickly putting them on. She gave herself a quick once over, the white knit sweater she was wearing was a few sizes bigger than her, so it was quite loose and slide off her (right) shoulder, she also had on thigh length biker shorter. Her skin was still clean, glowing and a little bit damp, from her shower and so was her hair. She didn't feel like wearing makeup or doing her hair, so she left her face bare and just put her hair into a messy bun.

Walking into the kitchen Sakura zoomed to the fridge, she was momentarily surprised at how empty the fridge was, then she remember how her parents had not bothered to go grocery shopping because the knew that they would be leaving soon. She sighed, she'd have to go to the grocery shopping, that or starve and she really wasn't too knee on starving.

She didn't bother to change, she really didn't care how she looked at the moment, which was a huge contrast to her not even a month ago, but then again a lot has happened in that month. Shaking her head she grabbed a pair of gladiator sandals quickly putting them on, she also grabbed a chunk of the money she had saved up from her share of money that team seven earned on missions, though she really didn't do anything on those missions, yet they still gave her money.

The walk to the grocery shop wasn't long, and she was soon at her destination, she quickly picked out everything she needed and payed. With some difficulty, she lugged all her bags and started to drag herself and the bags to the direction of her house, as she came closer to her house she started to walk faster, she honestly didn't know how much longer she could keep her fake smile on.

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, so it came at no surprise when she bumped into someone, but because of all the bags she was carrying she couldn't find her balance and ended up landing on top of the person she had bumped into. Pushing herself up, Sakura was able to see who she on top of, under her was a red Shikamaru Nara.

' **Oh you go girl, WE'RE ON TOP OF A HOT GUY!'**

Shikamaru looked away from Sakura's beautiful jade eyes, trying desperately to hide his red cheeks. He had been minding his own business, just innocently walking down the street when suddenly he was run over by someone, he later recognized her as Sakura Haruno, the most intelligent girl in his class, though she looked different. Her faces wasn't caked with all that paint girls called makeup, in fact he was fairly sure she wasn't even wearing any. She wasn't wearing tight clothing like she and all the other girls always do, instead she was wearing a loose sweater, which slide off the side of her arm, revealing her creamy shoulder and slender neck. Her cherry blossom locks, which he had found ridiculous at one point look soft and silky to him now. She was looking at him with her mesmerizing jade eyes through her long wispy lashes.

'She looks...beautiful'

At that though more heat rushed to his face and the fact that her petit body was pressed flush against his own form didn't help either.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sakura got off him, her face burning up as she realized their suggestive position. He immediately missed the warmth her body had provided, though he ignored it in favor of getting up as well. He looked at her and for the first time that night, noticed all the grocery bags she was carrying. Without thinking he grabbed most of the bags out of her hands, she looked surprised and honestly so was he, why did he do that? Now she'll think he wants to help her and he'll _have to_ carry all these bags.

'What a drag'

Sakura seemed to realized what he was doing "oh, you don't have to do that Shikamaru" she said trying to take the bags from his hands but Shikamaru was having none of it.

"No it's fine, consider it an apology for bumping into you" Shikamaru could not believe what was coming out of his mouth and it seems that Sakura couldn't believe it as well. This couldn't be the same Shikamaru she knew from the academy, that boy hardly did anything for himself much less anyone else, yet here he was, practical arguing with her to carry her bags.

"You really don't have –"

"Which way to your house" Sakura sighed, there's no way she was going to win this argument, so she just gave up and told him to follow her.

Minutes ticked by as they walked to her house, her house seemed so far but yet so close at the same time, she honestly did not understand and didn't care to. She enjoyed the silence between them, Shikamaru's presence was calming but she really wanted to go home, today had been a tiring day.

"Lets race" she blurted out before she could stop her self. Shikamaru looked at her and she could see the surprise then later on reluctance shining in his dark eyes "come on, we'll get there faster" she said trying to convince him, she had already said it, might as well go with it.

Shikamaru head dropped and he sighed "fine" he said, and as soon as that one word left his mouth Sakura was off, it took him a minute to realize what had happened and another to run after her.

* * *

"How did you win, you were carrying most of the bags, plus I got a head start" Sakura breathed out through pants "your not even tired"

Shikamaru chuckled lightly but tried to hide it, he looked down at the pinkette, she was bent over with her hands on her knees trying catch her breath, her cheeks were red from exhaustion and beads of sweat were rolling down her adorably big forehead, more of her hair had fallen from the bun and now framed her face nicely.

He immediately looked away once Sakura stood up, not wanting her to catch him staring at her. He caught glimpse of her house from the corner of his eye and his expression fell "I guess I should go"

'I should to invite him in for dinner right? Don't I have to? He _did_ help me with my groceries'

 **'Well it does seem like the sensible thing to do, you don't want him getting suspicious and think that something happened, right? I mean you did tell the Hokage to not tell anyone, and most importantly…he is HAWT I mean look at him, has he gotten taller since we've last seen him? Oh and those –'**

Sakura cheeks tinged red at what Inner was saying, but she tried to ignore her and focus on talking to Shikamaru "why you don't stay over for dinner"

Shikamaru contemplated it for a moment but soon nodded, who was he to pass up a free home cooked meal, he couldn't stand his mother's cooking anymore, and he was pretty sure that anything would be better at this point. He followed Sakura into her house, it was humble house, especially when compared to his own, but was still cozy and had a warm welcoming feeling to it, something he though his home lacked.

"Okay, you can set the bags down on the counter and...just sit down on of the couch while I make dinner" Sakura said heading to the counter herself.

Shikamaru did as he was told then sat down on the couch just as the pinkette had instructed. He watched through half lidded eyes as Sakura zoomed across the kitchen, storing away the things that she didn't need, once she was done with that she began to prepare the vegetables. As he was watching her an image flashed before his eyes. Sakura, in a kitchen similar to the one in his house, cutting up vegetables, but instead of the sweater she was wearing, she had on a mid-thigh length, long sleeved, loose shirt with the Nara symbol on her back.

"Where are your parents?" Shikamaru found himself asking trying to distract himself from the oddly pleasant and satisfying image. He saw Sakura freeze up and tense, though he could only see her back. She was quite for a minute and Shikamaru wondered if he had said something wrong or offended her in any way but just as that thought came to his mind, she began to move again and soon after she replied.

"Oh, they're out"

"Where?" He blurted out, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Ehm, well they are merchants" Sakura said, she had no idea where she was going with this " and - and well you see they are visiting the - the mist on business" she said but quickly added "and don't ask me what kind of business because I honestly have no idea"

Shikamaru nodded, though he didn't completely buy it but didn't want to dig into her personal life too much, it wasn't his place, he wasn't close enough to her, hell they barely know each other, plus it would be too troublesome.

* * *

 **Author Note:** I am really tired, I had planned on edited this tomorrow but for some reason decided to do it in the middle of the night, plus my laptop broke for no apparent reason and I cannot access any of my word document. Originally this chapter was supposed to be edited and published a week ago but since I had to rewrite and edit it again it had taken much longer. I am sorry for any mistakes, please review and as always helpful criticism is much appreciated.

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 **Guest:** Thank you and I am trying to improve on both aspects as well as other points. Thank you for the review.

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	3. Chapter 3

Title: Grief Is Just Love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 4,380

Page Count: Nine (9)

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Inner'

Emphasize (or it could be sarcasm)

Emphasize (2)

…

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. SakuMulti, MultiSaku.

* * *

Sakura eyelids fluttered open to reveal stunning jade eyes, but before her eyes could focus she quickly closed them again, shielding her eyes from the vicious rays of light that had made their way through her blinds.

She took a moment to think as the stinging in her eyes calmed down, her thoughts involuntarily went back to yesterday's events. Sakura had actually enjoyed Shikamaru's company, and he also seemed to be enjoying himself. He had even invited her to play shogi with his sometime. He had stayed for a few hours after dinner, they had talked about the most irrelevant things, never bringing up any personal topics. Though they had debated about almost everything, it had actually been refreshing to have an intelligent conversation with someone her own age.

Though once Shikamaru had left, she had realized just how exhausted she had been, she had gone straight to her room, not even bothering to change or shower. The moment her head hit the pillow she was out like a candle.

Sitting up, Sakura blinked trying to adjust to the bright light. Stretching her limbs slightly, she threw her legs off the edge of her bed before jumping off and heading to the bathroom. She walked out a while later, she had a taken a nice long, relaxing shower.

As she walked out of the bathroom, steam followed her out. She had a towel wrapped loosely around her body. Sakura sighed in content as she walked to her wooden closet, she opened the closet door and was honestly stunned at the amount of pink there. Who knew there were this many shades of pink?

She shook her head and started to rummage through her closet but even after almost thirty minutes she still couldn't find anything to wear that was both appropriate and suitable for training. Sighing, Sakura let her head fall

'How they hell did I train in this?' she thought, staring at her red qipao dress, how does someone function in that thing? How did _she_ function in that thing?

 **'** **I honestly have no idea, it defies all logic** **'**

It was truly a phenomenon.

"What am I going to do? The one time I actually want to train I have nothing to wear" Sakura complained.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura caught sight of a pile of folded clothes near her bed, she instantly remembered the clothes that the nurse had lent her, she did say she could keep them. She was suddenly thankful that she had taken the time to clean the clothes yesterday.

The smile that came to her lips almost ripped her face in half, she quickly threw on the white cami, the royal blue Jounin style sweatpants, and her Shinobi sandals. She didn't bother doing her hair, she just let it down. Almost instinctively, Sakura walked to the bathroom, but she abruptly stopped mid-step.

'I don't feel like putting makeup on today'

 **'** **Well you need to put it on, in case you forgot, Sasuke Kun is a part of our team meaning we will be seeing him today, so you have to look your best** **'**

'How can I forget, you've mentioned it almost every day since the teams were announced back in the academy'

 **'** **So do you** **'**

Ignoring Inner's comment, Sakura forced herself to continue waking, she opened her makeup bag and pulled out a mascara, she coated her already long, wispy lashes with the mascara, she also applied lip-gloss to her plump pouty lips but couldn't bring herself to do anything more.

 **'** **Put some eyeliner on** **'**

'But…'

 **'** **Sasuke Kun** **'**

'...Fine'

She quickly did her liner, doing a small flick at the end to create a wing. She looked at her reflection and frowned. Now that she thought about it, makeup just seemed like a waste of time…but it was for Sasuke Kun, so it was worth it…right?

Sighing Sakura grabbed her weapons pouch, quickly strapping it around her hip, so it was just over her butt. Walking to the kitchen counter, Sakura grabbed an apple from the bowl she had placed on the counter, then she proceeded to munch on it as she headed out the door and towards team Seven's training field.

As she walked to the training grounds, she flashed anyone she knew a smile, hoping they wouldn't get suspicious. Though she didn't know for how much longer she could hold her smile, luckily the training grounds were only a ten-minute walk from her house.

It wasn't long before she had arrived at the training field, she was only a little bit late since she had taken her time getting ready, but it seems that Naruto and Sasuke were both already there and as she walked closer the seemed to noticed her coming. Sakura smiled and tried to wave but before she could, she was tackled by, what she could only describe as a yellow and orange blob.

"SAKURA CHAN!" Naruto yelled pouncing on the pinkette. He was ecstatic but he quickly realized what he was doing and got off her "oh I'm so sorry Sakura Chan I just missed you so much and –"

But before he could continue with his apology he was interrupted by Sakura pulling him closer "no it's fine Naruto, I missed too"

As Sakura uttered those words Naruto froze, but then his face exploded with color, his whole face was tinted red. He didn't know what was wrong with Sakura Chan but if she was going to let him hug her and hug him back then who was he to complain.

Sakura shuffled even closer to Naruto, looking up at him with her innocent jade eyes, she sent him a breathtaking smile. Naruto honestly thought he was going to faint but who could blame him, Sakura was just too cute for her own good.

As Sakura took a better look at Naruto, she tilted her head to the side, confusion, and concern shimmering in her eyes. Was Naruto coming down with a cold? Without thinking she moved even closer and pressed her bigger forehead, to his.

Naruto felt his face heat up even more and his heart beat as well as his breathing quickened. He couldn't bring himself to look at his crush, whose face was so close to his…and her soft, plump, pink lips almost brushing against his own, at that thought, more heat rushed to his cheeks "w-w-what a-ar-are yo-you d-doing"

Sakura seemed genuinely surprised by his question, wasn't obvious? "I'm checking to see if you have a cold, I mean you were –

"What happened to your hands" Sasuke interrupted her, speaking up for the first time.

At the mention of her hands, Sakura jolted away from Naruto, missing the emotions that play through his face. Confusion flashed through his eyes but disappointment replaced it, though soon enough that disappointment turned to anger, anger directed at a certain Uchiha. That Teme was going to pay for ruining his moment with Sakura Chan.

"Oh," Sakura said looking down at her bandaged hands "it – it's just a small burn" technically she wasn't lying, her hands were _technically_ burned.

"Then why are both your hands completely covered" Sasuke shot back

"My mother, she – ehm she overreacted and demanded the doctor bandage both my hands" Sakura was honestly surprised and how easily she was lying, but she didn't know for how long she could keep it up. Why was Sasuke being so nosey all of a sudden? Sure Inner _immensely_ enjoyed the attention but Sakura didn't want to accidentally let anything slip.

Before Sasuke could ask any more questions, Sakura quickly gave them an excuse and walked away ignoring Naruto's concerned expression. She headed towards a random tree, making sure it provided some distance between her and her teammates, but not so much that it seemed suspicious. Sliding down the rough bark of the tree and she sat down in its shade, she would much rather be catching up with her boys, preferably Naruto but she didn't want either of the inquiry any further.

That had been a close call, speaking of which she had no idea what had compelled her to hug Naruto the way she did. She hadn't been lying when she had said she missed the blond while on her trip, but she hadn't realized how much she missed until that moment. She had almost spilled everything about her parents, she had felt vulnerable in his arms.

Even while at the hospital the only time she talked about her parents was when the Hokage had asked her. She had only talked because she knew it would give the ANBU, that the Hokage sent, something to go by, to catch the rogue Shinobi. Though the Hokage hadn't mentioned anything about ANBU, she knew that the Hokage couldn't ignore a rogue Shinobi so close to his borders, especially when said rogue had murdered civilians from his village.

Though she hadn't seen a slashed headband, it could have easily been because she had been running and too scared to analyze the enemy properly. With being said, she was fairly sure he had been a missing nin, he hadn't used any Justus's and from what she could see he hadn't used any chakra as well, so it was plausible that he was a civilian but a strong one. But from her perspective, the first theory was more likely and even more logical.

As her thoughts strayed back to the incident, the image of their mangled corpses flashed before her eyes and she began to panic. Even with all the time she had at the hospital, she still hasn't gotten over her parents' tragic death but she did learn how to deal with it.

She straightened her posture and crossed her legs, clearing her mind, Sakura finally felt at ease. The Hokage had taught her how to meditate when he had witnessed her having a panic attack, at the mere thought of her parents. He told her it would clear her mind and allow her the peace of mind. He also mentioned that it would help her chakra reserves grow faster, but at that time she couldn't bring herself to care, she was just grateful it worked. Though the Hokage had also told her not to rely on it too heavily, she would have to face her problem sooner or later but for now, Sakura chose to store that advice in the back of her mind.

Ever since she had woken up in the hospital, Sakura had been in denial. She knew what had happened, she knew her parents were dead but she just didn't want to accept it. Sakura knew her denial was unhealthy, she had been constantly informed by the doctors that had tended to her, even some of the more observant nurses, even so, Sakura couldn't bring herself to care about her mental health, she had a split personality for crying out loud! She had lost that battle a long time ago.

* * *

Sakura began emerged from her meditational daze, as she felt herself being shaken. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see Naruto, his face only a few inches away from her own. She blinked a few times before squeaking and jumping away from his as she realized just close they were. She was pretty sure her face resembled her hair.

Naruto shook off his confusion at Sakura's action and looked at Sakura with big cerulean eyes " what were you doing Sakura Chan?" he asked tilting his head in childish wonder, making Inner squeal at how cute he was.

'Since when did you think Naruto was cute'

 **'I don't know, I guess I just realized how cute he is, I mean look at those big blue eyes of his, his soft blonde hair, oh and don't even me started on those whiskers – '**

Choosing to ignore Inner, as well as her rising blush, Sakura focused on Naruto's question "Meditating, it helps me clear my mind" she explained, smiling softly at his awed expression "was there anything you needed?"

That seemed to snap Naruto from his awed daze, he grinned sheepishly moving aside to reveal Kakashi. "Kakashi Sensei's here"

He was leaning against a tree lazily, his lone eyes focused on the small orange book in his grasp. His grayish silver hair was styled as always in its gravity defying glory. He was wearing what he always wore, dark navy Jounin sweatpants, a loose fitting long sleeved dark navy turtleneck, that matched his sweatpants, under the Jounin flak jacket, as well as his mask that covered half his face and his titled forehead protector which only left his left eye visible.

 **'How did I not notice that Naruto and Kakashi are _extremely_ good look and straight up HOT'**

'Kakashi Senesi? You're sick, his old enough to be our dad'

 **'I wouldn't be against calling him daddy. Besides age doesn't matter in the Ninja world'**

'You're sick'

 **'Honey I'm you, so technically speaking, if I'm sick then so are you'**

Before Sakura could retort Naruto once again caught her attention by waving his hands in front of her face. Snapping out her daze Sakura looked at Naruto as a sign for him to continue.

Naruto looked worried, concern was shimmering his eyes "are you okay Sakura Chan? You just spaced out" he said moving his hands in frantic gestures to get his point across.

'Yeah, I'm completely fine, I was just having a conversation with my perverted split personality about how hot you and Kakashi Sensei are'

 **'Wow even I think you're crazy and I'm you'**

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking. Let's go"

Kakashi watched as the female member of team seven, blinked her eyes cutely. He would be lying if he had said that he hadn't missed her, he had honestly missed hearing her excuses they were almost as amusing as his own. He also had not failed to notice how team Seven's teamwork had declined significantly since Sakura had left, even though they wouldn't admit it, Kakashi knew that Sakura somehow held the group together, almost like glue. Even though he wouldn't admit anytime soon she had grown on him, they all have and that scared him.

Sakura flinched as pain shot through her hands as she applied pressure to them, something that Kakashi didn't miss. Even though she was out of danger and her hands had pretty much healed, it still hurt to apply any sort of pressure to them, but thankfully nothing close to how much it hurt when the wound was still fresh.

Stepping forward, Kakashi began to explain their schedule for today.

* * *

Her body screamed out as she collapsed onto the ground, she had strained her muscles to a level she was not used to. But her muscles were not the only thing that was sore and bruised, her ego had taken quite a hit. After she had finished her laps she had been exhausted, she had been about ready to fall unconscious but she had realized that Naruto and Sasuke, both of which had run the same amount of laps as her but much faster, were sparing vigorously, and they barely broke a sweat! While she was panting like a dog in heat after only running the laps.

 _With new found determination, Sakura stalked over to Kakashi Sensei, saying she ready and immediately falling into a fighting position she had to learn whilst in the academy. Much to her confusion, Kakashi Sensei seemed surprised and reluctant to spar with her._

 _"Sakura are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, Sakura slowly got out of her stance and watched him with confusion clear in her eyes._

 _"What do you mean? Of course, I'm sure" she said confusion coating her voice, she saw Kakashi Sensei's eyes stray to her hands, unconsciously she pulled her arms behind her back. Kakashi noticed and sighed._

 _"Never mind, if you think you up to it then let's begin" he said and didn't even bother getting into a stance, like the_ pinkette _. Nor did he put away his Ichi Ichi orange book but that wasn't shocking, he never put down his book when sparring with them, especially when in taijutsu, in some cases he would put it away when sparring with Sasuke but never with her and Naruto, but then again Sasuke was much more advanced in Taijutsu._

 _So they had fought, or more so, Sakura tried to land a hit on Kakashi whilst he just dodged every hit at the last moment. After about half an hour of nonstop dodging, he switched from defensive to offensive and started to strike._

'Though he did avoid striking anywhere near my hands' Sakura dully noted while trying desperately to catch her breath.

"Alright, training is over for today" Kakashi said, for once waiting for them to leave before he himself disappeared.

Sasuke only grunted and prepared to leave, while Naruto ran over to where Sakura was resting "Hey Sakura Chan wanna get ramen with me?" upon hearing that Sasuke seemed to stop in his tracks and even Kakashi turned his head to look at the duo, both expected Sakura to turn down the blonde's request but were surprised when she smiled and nodded.

Sakura thought about it for a second but quickly agreed, she didn't want to go home. For the first day she had been able to distract herself, but she didn't know what to do now, the house of filled with so many memories it was just too painful to reminisce on those days. So when the opportunity to not go home presented itself she quickly agreed, why wouldn't she?

Pushing herself up, Sakura made sure not to put too much pressure on her hands. She turned to face Kakashi Sensei, she walked up to him with hope shining in her jade eyes.

"Kakashi Sensei why don't you come with us" Sakura suggested, eyes glimmering with hope, Kakashi shook his head no and was about to decline verbally but as he looked at her, he couldn't bring herself to say no, her bottom lip was sticking out in an adorable pout, she was holding her hands behind her back in a way that screamed innocence and her beautiful jade eyes were shining with hope. He just turned his head away and only nodded.

Sakura then turned her eyes towards the lone Uchiha who was now standing and looking at her with unreadable expression "Hey Sasuke Kun, why don't you come as well"

"Hn" Sakura decided to take that as a yes, she smiled. "Okay, well let's go"

She grabbed Naruto's hand and began to drag him in the direction of the restaurant with new found vigor.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto were walking ahead of the two remaining members of the team. Naruto was happily chatting Sakura's ear off but she only smiled and replied when she thought needed. The moment the booth came in sight Naruto sped ahead. He sat down on one of the stools, not sparing the other occupant a glance. Sakura walked into the small booth restaurant after Naruto but unlike the blonde, she flashed the occupant a polite smile, though when she saw that it was team ten, her smile became a bit more genuine, she even threw in a wave. The members of team ten seemed pleasantly surprised when they recognized her, especially Shikamaru, while Ino looked angry and confused.

Sakura sent them an apologetic look, as she heard Naruto calling her name. With one last glance, she moved to sit beside the blond, who immediately started to chat her ear off…once again. The curtains were once again pushed aside as the last two remaining members of team seven entered. Sasuke sat beside Sakura, at which Inner began to squeal but oddly enough Sakura didn't think it was anything special, she quickly shot the idea out of her head, Sasuke was her longtime crush, she probably didn't feel anything because she was being distracted by Naruto, yeah, that was it. Kakashi sat beside Sasuke, so he was at the end of the bar, Sasuke was on his left and a wall was on his right.

And just like that all the seats in the tiny restraint were filled, on the far left corner was team Ten's Sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, beside him was Shikamaru, then Ino, Choji, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and lastly Kakashi.

While team seven was ordering, Ino kept staring at Sasuke with a dreamy look on her face totally disregarding the salad she had ordered, even though this was a ramen restaurant. She hadn't seen him since the academy, and just like that, she began to plot a plan to sit next to him.

"NARUTO, switch seats with me, NOW" she demeaned but the blond was having none of it.

"NO, I want to sit next to Sakura Chan" Ino honestly expected Sakura to shout something at Naruto, maybe something along the lines of 'but I don't to seat next to you' but much to her surprise Sakura didn't say anything, in fact, she actually smiled at Naruto…oh god was she blushing.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Ino huffed, she was just about ready to start sulking when she caught sight of her chubby teammate, who was seated beside her, closer to Sasuke Kun. A devilish smirk came to her lips as she looked at the kind boy beside her.

"Chouji. Switch. Now" the boy looked like he was about to refuse so she quickly added "please"

Chouji sighed and Ino immediately knew she had won, her smirk widened as he got off his seat and waited for her to do the same, she quickly switched seats and inhaled…oh god, she could smell Sasuke Kun's manly scent from here.

Seating down beside Shikamaru, Chouji briefly sent Ino a concerned glance as he saw her practically melt into her seat. He shook his head and turned to his best friend, only see that he seemed to be preoccupied staring at something, but as he turned to see what he was staring at he saw that it was actually a someone. Shikamaru was staring at the Haruno girl from the academy as she threw her head back laughing at something Naruto had said, but it didn't seem that the blonde found it funny because if laughing, he was whining, while the rest of team seven laughed at him, actually Sakura was the only one laughing but Kakashi was smiling and even Sasuke had a barely noticeable smirk.

A smirk of his own came to Chouji's lips as an idea popped into his head "hey Sakura San" now that seemed to get Shikamaru's attention "do mind switching seats with me"

Even if he wasn't as smart as his best friend, he wasn't dumb, he knew that there was no way Sakura would agree but it was worth –

"Sure, I don't mind" Sakura said flashing him a kind smile, Chouji couldn't help but blush but he quickly hid it by following Sakura's lead, getting off his stool, he switched places with her, but before he could sit down, his blond teammate sat down, not paying him any mind and fluttering her clumpy lashes at the Uchiha boy. He sighed but nonetheless sat down in her place. Chouji glanced over to Shikamaru and saw him smiling while already engaging the pinkette in conversation.

Through the whole thing the teams two respective Senseis could only stare in poorly hidden amusement as the scene played out right before their eyes. After the whole fiasco, the seating arrangements had changed, Kakashi and Asuma were still seated in their original seats, Shikamaru was still beside Asuma, but besides him wasn't Ino but Sakura, the Chouji, followed by Naruto, Ino and then Sasuke.

The whole time Ino was shamelessly flirting with Sasuke, trying to find ways to, not so discretely touch him, and Naruto and Kakashi were forced to listen to it. Speaking of Naruto he was still sulking because he couldn't sit beside Sakura Chan, and just as she started being nice to him too. Eventually, Sakura had noticed Chouji, and she immediately included him in her conversation with Shikamaru. Even though he could barely keep up with them and half the time he didn't understand what they were talking about, he had still enjoyed it. Shikamaru on the other hand, seemed a little ticked off that Sakura and included another person in their conversation but quickly calmed to down, it was only Chouji after all.

* * *

 **Author Note:** I don't know why but I didn't exactly like how this chapter turned out but no matter how many times I rewrote it, I still wasn't satisfied, but on the bright side, I updated pretty soon, well at least by my standers. Nonetheless I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if there is anything you would like to inquire about, whether it's about this story or any of my others (but please don't bother going back and reading the old ones, they aren't good and I'm planning on deleting them after I post the rewrite, which I will get to writing eventually…I hope), then you can just leave a review or just PM me if you would prefer.

Anyway, please leave a review because as you know reviews really do encourage me to write, and as always helpful criticism is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Grief Is Just Love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 5,052

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

'Inner'

 _Emphasize_ (or it could be sarcasm)

 **Emphasize** (2)

…

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. SakuMulti, MultiSaku.

* * *

"Sasuke, I'm at point B" "Sakura, I'm at point C" after a minute of silence another voice sounded out "Naruto, I'm at point A, believe it!" the members of team seven were all in place, it was time to take action.

"Your slow, Naruto" Just as Kakashi had warned Naruto, a shadow sprung from the trees "the target has moved! Follow it" with that command team seven leaped into action, stealthily following their target.

Peeking up from his hiding spot, on top of a tree, Naruto caught a glimpse of their target "over there" he gestures towards the shadow, informing his teammates of the target's whereabouts.

"What's your distance from the target?"

"Five meters, I'm ready, just give the signal," Naruto said pressing his body firmly against the tree.

"I'm ready to" Sasuke said not being one to be outdone.

"So am I" Sakura said, she wasn't going to do nothing on this mission, she had to pull her own weight. This is what her relentless training for the past month was for, she was not going to be useless anymore.

"Okay…NOW!" with that they all charged at once, capturing their target before it could get away.

"I got it, I got it!" Naruto cried in success as he held up their target, a…cat? Though he couldn't enjoy his victory for long, it seems the cat wasn't going down without a fight, and a dang good one at that.

The light bounced ominously off the cats' claws as it scratched repeatedly at the poor boy, who was screaming and flailing around, trying to get the cat off him.

…

"Naruto are you alright? You're pretty scratched up" Sakura asked worriedly as she took note of the various scratched that he had received from the vicious cat, which was still trapped in his arms.

 **'Wow, that cat sure went down with a fight, and it took all of us to capture it, plus look at those scratches. Do…do you think we'll ever be able to take it on, at least in a spar'**

'Inner I know we've improved a lot since a few months ago but let's not get our hopes up, the only reason we all came out alive is that we outnumbered it and had Kakashi Sensei, on our side – '

 **'Wait – isn't Kakashi Sensei's title the copycat, sure he is rumored to have copied over a thousand Jutsus but do think it was because he beat the cat, I mean something like that would surely go down in history or at the very least earn him a title'**

'Maybe...but even if it's Kakashi Sensei we're talking about, do you really think he'd be able to take on that cat, it just seems…well impossible, I mean th –'

"Don't worry about it Sakura-Chan, it's nothing compared to one of your punches" Naruto said unknowingly breaking her out of her inner conversation.

 **'Seriously, is he trying to a reassure us or make us feel guilty'**

'He does have a point though, we were pretty mean to him, not to mention we hit him lot, yet he still continues to treat us with the utmost kindness...even though we don't deserve it'

 **'Wow, now I feel bad'**

'Yeah,…we should apologize…but what if he doesn't accept our apology, what if he hasn't done or said anything yet because he doesn't think we're treating him badly like it's just how we behave or something, what if bringing it up causes him to realize just how badly we've treated him'

' **We have to, and besides, maybe it's for the best that he doesn't accept, maybe we really don't –'**

'D **e** s **e** r **v** e **h** i **m** '

"Hey guys…do you think you could go ahead, Naruto and I will catch up with you" she wanted to talk Naruto in private, she didn't want to do it later, knowing if she put it off, it would just be harder to do later.

Kakashi only nodded, before heading towards the Hokage tower, with Sasuke besides him. Though he didn't leave before sending them a concerned glance.

Naruto turned to look at Sakura nervously, there were only two reasons he could think of that would explain why she would want to talk to him alone. Either to confess her secret feelings for him...or to beat him up and say something's she didn't want Sasuke to hear her say. Even though the former sounded so much better to him, he knew it was unlikely, now that he thought about it, that was probably why she was being so nice to him recently, to throw him off, make him believe she was warming up to him, starting to actually like him only to –

"Naruto?" he snapped his gaze towards her face, as Sakura said his name, slightly raising her voice, yes, he was defiantly going to get yelled at, for what, he had no idea but then again he never did.

"Are you alright, you were spacing out" now that felt weird to say, she was normally the one hearing that phrase, not the one speaking it.

 **'It actually feels good, you know not being the crazy one, for all we know Naruto could have a split personality as well'**

'Yeah, sure'

 **'Think about it, there's got to be a reason why everyone, or at least the civilians, is so mean to him'**

'Yeah, but I have a feeling, there's more to it than just a split personality'

 **'What do mean by 'just'…you should pay attention to Naruto, he's looking at you weirdly, but don't think we've gotten out of this one, we're going to talk about it later'**

Coughing slightly, Sakura blushed in embarrassment, at being caught spacing out right after she told him to snap out of it only moments ago. Shaking her head lightly, she stepped closer to the blonde but didn't dare look him in the eye.

"Naruto, about what you said earlier about it being nothing compared to my punches – "

Naruto was just about to start defending himself, saying he meant it as a compliment, which he honestly did, when something shocking happened. Curelean eyes followed the single tear that escaped Sakura's hidden eyes and dropped to the ground, he couldn't see her face but he could hear her desperate attempts to hold back her tears.

'Goddammit, why am I crying, has nothing changed, am I still the weak useless, crybaby I was a month ago'

 **'Outer calm down, you didn't expect to change in a month did you, we're slightly more capable but we need time to grow'**

'I don't have that time anymore…I need to protect them now before it's too late…I was too late to protect my parents, I need to protect my other precious people before it's too late'

"I-I'm s-s-sorry" she managed to stutter out between sobs "I have been nothing but a pain to you, I hit you, I rejected you, I made – no make fun of you and…and yet your nothing short of the nicest person I have ever met, even to me, one of the people who has tormented you since day one." As she continued to cry, now on her knees Naruto could do nothing but stare with wide eyes.

"Not to mention, I have done nothing but hold this team back, I keep fawning over Sasuke, completely ignoring you and even Kakashi Sensei, as well as my responsibility as a member of team seven. All my life I have been nothing but useless, dead weight, coward and…and just weak, so, so weak, I couldn't even protect them – "

Without thinking, Naruto kneeled next to the pinkette, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, letting her wet his shirt with her tears. He would rather take a beating and be yelled at instead of seeing Sakura cry, it pained him to know that she thought of herself so lowly, but it also surprised him that she was sharing this with him, but it looked like she'd been holding in for a long time.

"It's alright, I forgive you, but you're not any of those things Sakura-Chan, you mean so much to me, Kakashi Sensei, even Teme" he tried to reassure her, rubbing soothing circles on her back as her grip on his shirt tightened bringing him closer.

"Thank you," Sakura said barely above a whisper but Naruto seemed to hear it as he pulled her even closer, giving her a brief squeeze.

'We really don't deserve him'

 **'Yeah…but let's enjoy this while it lasts'**

…

"Oh, my poor little Tora, Mama was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins, yes!" the… _big_ women gushed, as she suffocated the cat between her arms.

"Stupid cat, that kitty deserves to be squashed" Naruto said a wicked grin on his face as he rubbed his hands together sinisterly.

 **'No wonder he ran away'**

"Now then" the Hokage said, steering their attention from the slowly suffocating cat to him "for squad seven's next mission we have several available tasks, including; babysitting the chef councilor's baby three-year-old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes – "

"NO, I want to go on a real mission, something challenging and exciting, not this little kids stuff. Come on old man" Naruto whined, moving his hands wildly in different gestures to convey his frustration.

'He's got a point' Sasuke thought, though he'd never admit to agreeing with the blonde dope.

'I knew this was coming' Kakashi thought, he had known this moment would come from day one.

"How dare you! You're just a brand new Genin, with no experience whatsoever, just like everyone else you begin with simple missions to develop your skills, and prove yourself" Iruka shouted in outrage, standing whilst slamming his hands on his wooden desk, which was a close to the Hokage's own desk.

"Are you serious, babysitting is not a mission, it's just a stupid – " Naruto shouted back, feeling his rage rise at his former Sensei's words.

"Will you put a lid on it" Kakashi said, slamming his hand over the blonde's mouth, dragging him backwards to standing right in front of him.

"Naruto, it seems you do not understand, the tasks you have been given. Many different kinds of request come into our village – " the Hokage went on explaining to mission system but Naruto and the rest of team seven had lost interest and were instead listing to Naruto talk about which flavor of ramen he was thinking of getting today.

"So, I had this Tonkotsu Ramen yesterday, so I'm thinking Miso ramen today – "

'Those disrespectful little brats'

A tick mark appeared on the Hokage's forehead as he slammed his hands on his desk much like what Iruka had done earlier "silence" he called out, making sure he had regained everyone's attention once again, he sat down.

"Oh, sorry" Kakashi apologized sheepishly on behalf of his team because he knew none of them were going to do apologies themselves.

"Ah, you always lecture me like my grandfather or something but I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time, I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission" Naruto whined before turning around and plopping down on the ground, with his back to the Hokage.

'I'm definitely going to hear about this later' Kakashi thought, already thinking of all the lectures and punishment he was going to get for his team's behavior.

"Excuse me" Sakura said nervously, stepping up, speaking for the first time "but I have to agree with Naruto, just like you said Iruka Sensei, we are brand new Genin with no experience whatsoever, we can't deny that, but Sensei how do you expect us to gain experience if we're stuck doing these simple 'missions' that even a civilian can do. Iruka Sensei, if I do recall correctly, you were the one who told us that experience alone, can raise your chances of winning a fight significantly. Again as you said we are Genin but that won't stop people from trying to hurt or even kill us or our precious people, so no matter how strong we become, if we have no experience(because we are sheltered behind the village's walls, the fight will not be in our favour, and without actually taking risks and going on missions outside the village's borders, how do you expect us to gain the experience that can save our lives one day" Sakura argued, she had no idea she impressed everyone in the room, nor of how a certain blonde was looking at her with awe, his cheeks tinted a bright red.

She didn't particularly have any desire to leave the village whatsoever, but it was obvious Naruto did. Besides she wasn't kidding, the experience would really be useful to them, she had recently learned, first hand, that most Shinobi, don't show mercy, even if it's to kids like them.

"it's good to see you out of your slump Sakura-chan and you do make a good argument...so be it, since you are all so determined, I am going to give you a C ranked mission, you'll be bodyguards on a journey" the Hokage smiled, it was good to see Sakura talking again, he had honestly been worried for her. Even though he knew she still hasn't healed from the accident and was only in denial and just refused to think about it, he hopes that team seven will be able to help each other, they have all suffered a great loss, if only they could see they only need each other to heal.

"Who? Who are we guarding? A princess or some councilor" Naruto said, snapping out of his awe induced daze, and jumping around with excitement.

"Don't be so impatient, I will bring him in now, send in our visitor" at the Hokage's words the door opened to reveal, a man with tan burnt skin, gray hair, a big beard and dark eyes. He was wearing a dark sleeveless, V-neck shirt with a lighter obi, tan pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and a pointed straw hat. He had on glasses and was holding a bottle of sake.

Sakura scrunched her nose, as the smell of alcohol, practically radiated from the man.

"What the – a bunch of snot-nosed kids" he said taking a gulp from the bottle in his hand, though barely anything went into his mouth, most of the liquid just trailed down from his mouth to his beard and neck "and you the little one with the idiotic look on your face, you really expect me to believe you're a ninja"

Naruto started laughing "who the little one with the idiotic look on his face" Sakura and Sasuke scooted next to Naruto, shoulder to shoulder. Sasuke was the tallest, Sakura begins shorter by only a few centimeters, leaving…Naruto as the shortest"

Realizing that he was the 'little one with the idiotic look on his face', Naruto face turned red with anger "I'll demolish you" he screamed trying to jump onto the man, only to be held back by Kakashi.

"You can't demolish the client Naruto, it doesn't work that way" Kakashi said sternly as if teaching his ignorant student a lesson.

"I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder, and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life" the man introduced himself, pushing himself off the door frame he had been leaning against.

'That's odd, why would he say that, this is just a C rank mission, missions like these are not life-threatening in the least, the most dangerous thing we could face, would be a few low-level bandits'

 **'You're just overthinking it, just be happy, we got a C rank mission, now we can rub it in Ino pig's face, first Sasuke, now a C rank mission, WE'RE ON A ROLE'**

'Yeah…still something's not right'

…

"Why are you so excited dope" Sasuke said, referring to the blonde, who immediately started jumping around the moment they stepped out the gates.

Naruto was so excited that he didn't even notice that the Uchiha had insulted him "this is the first time. I've ever stepped out of the village. I'm a traveler now! believe it"

"Hey, am I supposed to trust my life to this rant, he's a joke" Tazuna said pointing at the blonde with a look of disbelief on his face.

"He's with me and I'm a Jounin, so there's no need to worry" Kakashi tried to reassure the bridge builder.

"Sir, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked suddenly, taking his attention off the silver-haired Jounin.

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean 'trust my life'" it had been bugging her ever since, what he said while they were still at the Hokage's office "this mission was ranked a C ranked mission, so the highest danger we could possibly face would just be a few thugs or burglars. There is rarely anything life threatening on a C rank mission, in less, of course, something the mission was ranked wrong, maybe because the client ha– "

"You worrying too much little girl, now let's get going" Tazuna said interrupting her, and he continued walking.

'This is bad, the girl is already catching on…though she does seem to be the brightest out of all of them, even the Jounin hasn't figured it out yet, not even after what she said, she was about to explain exactly what's happening'

"Sakura is right, there are no Ninja battles in C ranked missions, so you can relax" Kakashi, said reassuring his team, though he didn't take his eye off their client.

…

"What – " Kakashi said, turning around but it was too late, the chains had already wrapped around his body, and with a pull, the spiked chains tightened around his body before tearing through it, chopping him up into pieces.

Team Sevens watched in surprise and horror as the pieces of their Sensei fell to the ground, but they didn't have too much time as the, two responsible for his death, appeared behind them, or more specifically behind Naruto.

"Now it's your turn" one of them said as they charged at the blonde who slowly turned around.

Just as they were about to wrap their chain around him, Sasuke jumped into the air, throwing a shuriken at the chain, causing it to stick at the tree. Before they could rip their chain from the tree, he threw a Kunai to secure it.

landing on their claws, he kicked them apart, though before they could meet the ground, they detached their claws from the chains and ran apart, one heading for the frozen blonde, while the other headed towards the bridge builder.

'Why the hell am I frozen, I need to move, I can't continue being useless'

Without thinking, Sakura did the only thing she could, she ran towards Tazuna, he was their client, their priority was to protect him.

"Stay behind me" she commanded as she pulled a Kunai in front of her, she got in a stance, if she couldn't do anything she would at least protect their client…even if it's the last thing she does, she wouldn't be useless anymore, she couldn't protect her parents, but she will protect Tazuna…even if it means death. She had been too scared to try to protect her parents, even though she was scared right now she wasn't going to let it stop her.

As the man got closer, she could do nothing but tighten her grip on her weapon, but before the man could reach her, Sasuke jumped in front of her shielding her from the attacker. That deter the man as he didn't slow down and was about to swipe at Sasuke when, Kakashi suddenly appeared, capturing the man in a headlock successfully knocking him out, the other man was captured in his other arm, in the same position.

"Hi"

 **'CHA! I knew it'**

'Hn, show off'

"Naruto, sorry I didn't help you right away, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I didn't think you'd freeze up like that" Kakashi said to Naruto, as he turned to look at the frozen boy.

"Good job Sasuke, very smooth, you too Sakura"

'They saved me after all' Tazuna thought as he gazed at team seven.

"You're not hurt are you, scaredy cat" Sasuke said tauntingly as he cast the blonde a look over his shoulder, not even bothering to face him.

"SASUKE" Naruto yelled ready to lunge at the arrogant boy.

"Naruto" Kakashi warned "stand still, these ninjas have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you quickly. You have to open you wound and remove it. It's in your blood, so don't move around, that spreads the poison"

"by the mister Tazuna" Kakashi called looking at the man with narrowed eyes

"Yeah…what?" Tazuna replied rudely, even though he knew he was in no position to do so.

"we need to talk" The silverette simply replied

…

"They're Chunnin from the village hidden in the mist, their specialty is relentless attack, they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice" Kakashi said informing his team of how their attackers were.

A look of realization came to Sakura's face 'they were hiding in the puddle, I knew something was off, it hasn't rained for weeks

 **'Your right…but how would we know it hasn't rained in weeks, we've been cooped up in that library for day'**

'…Training'

 **'Ou –'**

Sakura was snapped from her thoughts by a hand landing on her head, she looked up only to see Kakashi sending her a smile or an eye crinkle since she couldn't really see his face.

"'Sakura, I see you've noticed as well"

She only nodded before looking back at the tied down brothers. Sighing, Kakashi took that as a sign to explain himself.

"A puddle? On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks" he said looking at the brothers as well, but his hands still remained planted on the pinkette's soft mop of silky pink hair.

"If you knew then why did you leave it for the Genin to do the fighting" Tazuna said accusingly.

"I could have taken them out quickly but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was and what they were after"

"What are you getting at?" the old man asked nervously even though he knew what the Jounin was leading to.

"This, I wanted to know if they were after us, ninja fighting Ninja, or if they were after you the master bridge builder. It seems Sakura's suspicions were right, when you put in your request you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highwaymen, you didn't say there were Ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, then it would be a B rank mission or higher our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you whilst you finish building your bridge, if we knew we you going to be attacked by enemy ninja then we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B mission, apparently you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable, you are now beyond the scope of this mission" Kakashi said, explaining his actions.

Tazuna's head dropped in shame, he couldn't deny it anymore, they have solid proof.

"Excuse me, mister Tazuna?" Sakura stepped up, breaking the silence that had fallen over them after Kakashi's explanation.

"W-what?"Tazuna stuttered surprised that the girl had spoken up once again.

"Are you by any chance from the land of waves?" she asked innocently, her emerald eyes sparkling.

"Y-yes" how did the little pink haired girl know where had come from, last he checked he hadn't informed the team of his origin.

The girl seemed to be satisfied with the answer, she seemed to finally fully understand what was happening.

"Could you please explain Sakura" Kakashi was genuinely curious about what his pink hair genius student had concluded.

"Oh well you see Kakashi-Sensei since mister Tazuna is from the land of waves, which is a very poor country, he would have most likely not been able to afford a B rank mission, the highest he could afford would be C ranked mission. Now normally this would have been very bad since a Genin team not be able to protect him, much less themselves, so, in turn, they would have had to abandon the mission and return to the village" Sakura explained but suddenly she grinned "but luckily for him he got the best team there is, I mean come on. Kakashi Hatake, the legendary Copy Cat, the Ninja who had been rumored to have copied over a thousand Jutsu's. Sasuke Uchiha the last remaining member of the legendary Uchiha clan, not to mention, the top rookie of this year. Last but certainly not least Naruto Uzumaki, the guy with the solid clones and stamina that no one could match, I mean you've got to admit this team was practically waiting for this to happen"

Little did Sakura know that her little speech had given the team a much-needed boost of confidence, even Kakashi and Sasuke felt better about the situation. She had even given Tazuna hope, and well let's just say Naruto could now die happy, but what she also unknowingly did and would soon regret, was that she helped their egos grow even larger.

 **'Hey! Why didn't you say anything about us'**

'What would I have said? Sakura Haruno, the girl from the civilian clan, her Chakra reserve almost as bad as her stamina, the only thing she's good at, is gathering and retaining information? In case you haven't noticed we're not exactly up to par with the rest of Team seven'

 **'Not yet at least'**

"Naruto's hand could become a problem I guess we should go back to the village" Kakashi taunted, but he couldn't help but smile, Sakura didn't know it but she had encouraged everyone with her trust in Team Seven, though he didn't miss the way that she hadn't mentioned herself, or the fact that she chose to say 'this team' instead of 'our team', almost like she didn't think of herself as part of the team. He would have to talk to her about it soon.

Pulling out a Kunai, Naruto captured everyone attention, as he plunged the weapon into his had "upon this wound, I make this pledge, believe it, bridge builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this Kunai knife, don't worry, I'll be fine"

…

Author note: I was thinking of adding a training chapter before this but decided against it, the reason will be revealed in later chapters (which one, I have no idea). Anyway I had been seriously debating excluding Inner from this story like she didn't even exist, but I'm glad I didn't, I think she adds a humorous touch to the story.

So, I also have something else I want to say, so for this chapter, I tried a different technique, I wrote the whole dialogue, then I started writing down the actions, for example, "my name is blah, blah, blah" that would be the dialogue the I would add something like, she/he introduced herself/himself, and that would the actions. Combining them would look something like this ("my name is blah, blah, blah" she/he introduced herself/himself). I hope that made sense, though I'm pretty sure it did.

By the way guys, I finished this chapter a long time ago but I don't know why it took me so long to edit, oh who am I kidding I do know, it's called procrastination but not on its own, school also came along to help.

Replying to last chapter's reviews

…

Guest

Thank you, and I do know I could use some improvement in both those departments and I am working on it, again thank you for pointing my mistakes out so I could focus on my weak points.

ANIME-HOE

Thanks, I hope you like how the story progresses because I can assure you that I have a lot planned for this story

Guest

Thank you, and I really do appreciate the fact you're planning on reviewing it does mean so much to me, plus it always gives me that motivation to get started on the next chapter.

The Plague Doctor

Thanks, and I hope I didn't disappoint in this chapter.

Cailey 1995

Thank you, I really do appreciate your support, and I hope you continue liking the direction in which this story is heading.

Teyona

Thank You! I hope this chapter has reached your expectations

Verowak

Thanks a lot, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Grief Is Just Love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 1,845

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 **'Inner'**

 _Emphasize_ (or it could be sarcasm)

 **Emphasize** (2)

…

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. SakuMulti, MultiSaku.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Sakura's emerald eyes zeroed on the blood dripping from the blonde's hand. For a second they weren't in a field. Team seven was not here. She was standing in a dirt road, the brutal man that had taken so much from her, stood in front of her, the dagger coated in blood clutched in his hand. The torn bodies of her parents' thrown recklessly behind him.

The man took a step towards her, but with one step he seemed so close to her. His lips stretched in an insane smile, revealing his abnormally sharp teeth "it's you turn little girl" he whispered before charging at her.

She wanted to run, she wanted to scream, she wanted to cry but she couldn't. She was paralyzed. As the man grew closer to her she began to hear voices, familiar voice. The voices of her parents whispering in her ears.

'You were too weak'

'You let us die'

'You betrayed us'

'You let us down'

'You didn't protect us'

'Your too weak'

'Your useless'

'We **hate** you'

'No, no, no, no' she repeated the word over in over in her head like a mantra. She could do nothing but stare straight at the man charging at her, his dagger, that had killed her mother and her father, raised about to take her life as well.

Just as the dagger was inches from her heart, it all disappeared. The man, the voices, everything was gone. Opening her eyes, ('when did I close them') everything was blurry, it took her a moment to realize she was soaked to the bone.

Rubbing her eyes harshly, she saw Sasuke standing in front of her, his canteen unscrewed. She wanted to ask what had happened, to scream at him, to do anything but she couldn't find her voice. She was even too scared to close her eyes, not willing to take the risk of seeing that-that…nightmare again.

She wanted to stand up but knew her knees wouldn't be able to support her, so she settled on seating on the ground. She tried to ignore the stares everyone was sending her, but it was getting increasingly harder to do so as the seconds passed by.

She desperately wanted to ask what had happened but new it would only complicate things further. Instead, she offered them a forced smile "daydreaming" was all she said, she knew she couldn't depend on her voice at the moment, she was surprised she could even say that word without her voice cracking.

Kakashi and even Sasuke seemed a little skeptical but stayed quiet nonetheless. They all left to do their respective duties, preparing to continue with their journey, but not before sending one more glance at the pinkette.

* * *

' **What was that?'**

'I honestly have no idea, but it might have had something to do with seeing Naruto bleeding'

' **Yeah, but last time I checked we didn't have a blood phobia'**

'Your right, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a phobia per say. It could have just triggered something'

"A rabbit!" Naruto shouted unknowingly snapping Sakura from her inner conversation "I'm so sorry!" he apologized to the shaken rabbit, with fat tears running down his face. He quickly ran towards the rabbit before forcing it into a suffocating hug, briefly reminding Sakura of Madam Shijimi hugging her beloved Tora.

Sakura sighed as she gazed at Naruto kill – hugging the rabbit, though her eyes suddenly widened as she seemed to realize something.

'Wait, isn't the rabbit supposed to be –'

Sakura never had the chance to finish her thought as Kakashi suddenly yelled for them to duck. Without thinking she dove for the ground, bringing down the nearest people to her, which happened to be Naruto and Tazuna. Just in time to, because just as they landed safely on the ground a giant sword soared above their head, lodging itself into the trunk of a nearby tree.

A man jumped onto the sword. He was tall, with noticeable bulging muscles. He was pale with short wild black hair and brown eyes. The lower part of his face was covered by bandages which served almost like a mask. His forehead protector was tilted sideways, and Sakura didn't fail to notice the slash running through the sign of the village hidden in the mist. He was shirtless, he was wearing baggy sweatpants and wrist-warmers extending to his elbows as well as matching leg-warmers.

The man looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Well if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, a rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist," Kakashi said, tensing up slightly but trying to disguise it. Just as Kakashi uttered the man's name all the information flooded into her brain.

Zabuza Momochi, born on August 15th, age twenty-six, missing-nin from the hidden mist, graduated from the academy at the age of nine and was an ANBU before leaving the village. Given the moniker Demon of the Hidden Mist, was apart from the Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

' **Oh, god we're up against Zabuza Momochi, he is way out of our league'**

Her mind was racing with all the information she barely managed catch Naruto before he charged at the elite missing-nin. She loved Naruto, she honestly did but sometimes he was just too naïve and obvious for his own good.

"Naruto don't go…I-I'm scared I need you to protect me" she ground out. Naruto immediately apologized for even thinking of leaving her before taking his place beside her, trying to act brave so she would be reassured that he could protect her.

' **I can't believe you said that!'**

'What else was I supposed to say?! You know this the only way he would stand still without arguing'

' **Yeah, but still…'**

'Inner, this is serious, you said it yourself Zabuza is way out of our league. We need to do everything in our power to ensure everyone's safety, it doesn't matter if we have to stomp on our pride in the process. Besides our best bet right now is Kakashi-sensei, we can't let anything distract him'

' **Your right'**

"Well since I am going up against such a worthy adversary, I will be needing this" Kakashi stated his hand on the headband covering his left eye.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, it would be an honor to fight you…but unfortunately, I'm here for the old man, not you. Hand him over" Zabuza spoke from his perch on his sword.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that, it's our mission to protect him" Kakashi stated his voice radiating confidence, putting his team slightly at ease.

"Fine, I was ordered to exterminate the old man, but if I have to eliminate you to do so Kakashi, then so be it," the missing-nin said before jumping off the sword and disappearing into thin air. He suddenly appeared on the lake, the fog seemed to gather around him, swirling lazily around him like a vortex.

"How is he standing on water?" Naruto asked in complete wonder. Sakura couldn't help but be baffled, they were in a life-threatening situation and, yet Naruto was still as childish as ever. It was truly a commendable achievement.

The fog slowly but surely began to thicken until it practically cloaked him. Though the fog didn't seem normally it was much denser than what was considered normal.

'I-i-is that a-a-all cha-chakra'

It didn't seem possible to her, she had never witnessed or even heard of such thing. She never knew a mortal could withstand carrying that much energy within him. In theory, she surely would have thought they would have blown up from the overload of power.

Pushing her shock to the side, Sakura forced herself to focus on the present situation. As the fog began to engulf them, she stepped back, pulling Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna with her. They seemed to be frozen in place, they must have also sensed the overwhelming amount of chakra.

"He vanished," Naruto said in surprise and fear, though he tried hard to disguise the latter since he didn't want his crush to doubt his ability to protect her.

Ignoring Naruto's earlier statement Kakashi spoke up "he'll come after me first" Sakura didn't know if he was telling them this to warn them or to reassure them, but at the moment she couldn't care less.

"But who even is he?" Naruto asked though Sasuke seemed to be paying very close to the answer, giving Sakura the impression that he had the same question on his mind.

"Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of the hidden mist assassination unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique" Kakashi explained though he never took his eye off the spot Zabuza had once stood.

' **I think they actually peed their pants'**

"S-s-silent?" Naruto stuttered

"As the name suggests it happens in an instant without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast that you pass from this life without realizing what had happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it so don't lower your guard. Well if we fail we only lose our life"

'How-how could he speak of life and death so lightly, as if it were a mere object'

' **Well a-at least they're on guard now'**

"This mist is getting thicker and thicker" Naruto noted his voice laced with fear, yet he still tried desperately to appear brave in front of his crush.

"The land of waves is surrounded by ocean; the swirling mists are ever present" Tazuna explained speaking up for the first time.

Suddenly Zabuza voice rung out from what appeared to be every direction "eight points, larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now which will be my kill point" by now Naruto and Sasuke were shaking, while Sakura was barely holding herself together.

* * *

 **Author Note:** I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the late update, but I had decided to rewrite it a couple of time, it just never turned out like I imagined but I think this is pretty good in my opinion. By the way, this the fifth chapter of GIJL (Grief Is Just Love) (Obviously, duh) and five chapters is the longest story I have published so far (I know sad). Anyway please leave a review, helpful criticism is always welcomed.

P.S. please excuse any misspelling or grammar mistakes, I did edit this quickly since I wanted to post it early (well this is considered early from)


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Grief Is Just Love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 5,459

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 **'Inner'**

 _Emphasize_ (or it could mean sarcasm, but in this chapter, it also signified a flashback)

 **Emphasize** (2)

…

Summary: After a traumatic event, Sakura's lost and broken but she is determined to find clarity somehow. SakuMulti, MultiSaku.

…

 _ **Chapter Six**_

Kakashi clasped his hands together and formed a hand sign. He focused his chakra on getting rid of the fog around them. He wouldn't be able to get rid of all the fog, he could not afford to waste so much chakra before the battle even begun.

Sakura watched with wide eyes as Kakashi pushed back the fog around them back with nothing but pure chakra!

 **'Is that even natural?! It's like he has an endless well of chakra! Even Zabuza! It's like chakra is just radiating off of them!'**

'I don't think its normal, maybe just not impossible'

 **'Good enough for me'**

Tearing her eyes away from the powerful display of chakra control and abundance. Sakura tilted her neck slightly trying to catch a glimpse of her teammates but still be able to maintain her gaze on the enemy. Though she quickly forgot about the enemy when she caught something glinting in the sunlight, something dangerously close to Sasuke's chest.

Whirling around, Sakura wondered for a second if her eyes were deceiving her. The confident, even arrogant, Uchiha Sasuke, who spoke so highly of himself and always put others down for their fears. Was grasping a Kunai with his trembling hands and pushing the metal alarmingly close to his heart.

"Hey! Sasuke" she called out not realizing how loud she had been as she seemed to not only catch Sasuke's attention but also Kakashi's and his opponent's. Yet the two never took their eyes off each other.

"I hate to burst your bubble and all, but I think you're holding the Kunai the wrong way. The pointy end should be pointing to the enemy, not you...Damn and here I thought Naruto was the dumb one"

That wasn't what she wanted to say to him. She wanted to yell at him. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to ask him if all she's been through, the past month alone, hasn't enough. She had witnessed the closest people to her heart die. She couldn't handle seeing others she loved meet the same fate as well.

However, she said nothing of what she wanted to say. As much as she wanted to do all of that, Sakura knew it was neither the time nor place to do so. Besides, she didn't think telling him everything she's been going through would help him relax. She just hoped the light and joking tone in her voice would. Or at the very least ignite some anger or frustration towards her to distract him from his fear.

"Sasuke, you need to calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die…trust me" Kakashi reassured, chancing a quick carefree smile. He also gave Sakura a quick nod. After all, even though Sasuke still seemed shaken, he was angry as well, he also wasn't shaking as much.

Sakura wanted to trust Kakashi. She really did. Yet she couldn't relax. She couldn't let her guard down, not even for a second. Though she supposed that was a good thing given their current situation.

"I wouldn't be so sure" it was merely a whisper, yet wind carried it to her ears. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise on end, as a foreboding air settled over them.

Without warning, Zabuza was in the middle of the tight semi-circle team seven had formed around Tazuna. Without thinking, Sakura jumped in front of Tazuna right as he was about to get sliced. The only thing keeping her from getting sliced herself was the meager Kunai she held against the huge sword.

Sakura put every drop of power she had into pushing against the sword. She even thought of using chakra to intensify her power, but one look at her bandaged hands, cast those thoughts away.

She wasn't physically strong, to begin with. This was putting strain on muscles that weren't even developed. The only thought running through her mind was that she was grateful for all the physical endurance training she had gained from hitting Naruto constantly. At least she wasn't as guilty anymore. All his pain was for a good cause.

"Sensei" she called out between grinding teeth. Sakura was hopeful and optimistic but not blind. She knew she was no match for Zabuza. Kakashi Sensei barely was! She wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, and her convulsing arms were proof.

Zabuza gazed down at the girl before him in confusion. He had thought the girl would be the most sensible one. She seemed like the easiest one to scare, and fear usually meant sensibility. Though he must have been mistaken. Who would jump in front of the great Zabuza? Much less when he was swinging his sword. He, of course, was holding back all of his strength, the only thing the girl was pushing against was just a third- no a fourth of the weight of the sword. Though he had to admit that in itself was impressive, especially for someone of her structure. He himself needed chakra to carry Kubikiribōchō.

'Too bad I have to kill her. With a little training, she might actually be useful'

With that thought, Zabuza began to loosen his grip on the sword, planning to just let the girl be ripped to shreds by the sword itself…less work for him. Just as Sakura's shaking arms were about to give out from underneath the pressure, Kakashi appeared before her, taking her place in pushing the sword away.

Sakura gave a sigh of relief as she skidded away from the scene with the others. She briefly chanced a glance at her arms…it looked just as bad as it felt. Her hands were red and throbbing. The shape of the Kunai handle imprinted on her arm. The thing that hurt the most was her hands though. Her old burn wounds were beginning to bleed through the bandages. It felt like old closed wounds were being harshly ripped open once again.

She also felt lightheaded and dizzy. Holding back the sword had taken up a lot of her energy. More than it should have.

She could see Naruto, Tazuna and even Sasuke sending her worried glances every chance they got. Choosing to ignore it for now. Pushing the pain and dizziness away, Sakura focused on the battle that was currently unfolding right before her eyes.

She swayed slightly as she got into her fighting stance once again. Her tired emerald eyes were glued to the two opposing Jounin. Watching as water seemed to gush out of Zabuza's wound. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she subconsciously tried to uncover Zabuza's plan and motives.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a shout from a certain blonde. She immediately focused back on the fight scolding herself for getting lost in thought, especially at a time like this. One wrong move and she could and would most likely end up dead.

Sakura couldn't help the tiny proud smirk that came to her lips as she watched 'Kakashi Sensei' burst into water. The Bingo Book didn't exaggerate anything. Her sensei truly was a legend.

Kakashi was behind Zabuza, who was still recovering from the shock, in an instant. His Kunai clutched tightly in his hand as he pressed it against the missing-nins throat.

"You're finished"

Just as the words that left Kakashi's mouth were fully processed, Naruto began to cheer and Sasuke and Tazuna visibly relaxed. Though as much as Sakura wanted to relax and celebrate their victory, she couldn't seem to let her guard down, especially when such a dangerous enemy was in front her…still alive and breathing.

 **'W-we don't want him to _d-die_ …right?'**

Inner's voice resonated throughout her still mind, and Sakura could not find it in herself to answer or deny the statement.

"Finished?" Zabuza questioned, a teasing but dangerous tone in his voice "you really don't get it, do you? Your techniques are nothing but imitations. I will never be defeated by the likes of you"

Before she could even fully comprehend what the man had said, Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, switching their positions.

'That means the other Zabuza is water clone'

 **'You think!'**

Zabuza kicked Kakashi. She watched as her sensei soared through the air before falling into the nearby river, Zabuza soon dove into the water after him.

As Kakashi rose to the surface, he seemed to be weighted down. Zabuza flashed behind him and before any of the members could even think about warning their sensei, Zabuza had trapped him in what appeared to be a water sphere prison of some sorts.

As they stood there staring in horror at their now trapped Sensei. Zabuza began to speak, arrogance and satisfaction dripping from his voice.

"Do you think that you have the right to call yourself Ninja? Only when you have battled with life and death some many times that it doesn't faze you, may you call yourself a ninja. When your dangerous and lethal enough to be registered into _my_ Bingo Book, only then can you call yourself a ninja. But to call weaklings like yourselves ninja is a joke..." Sakura could vaguely hear Zabuza rant as she began to drift off.

For a while, everything turned white. Fear consumed her as she realized that she was probably going to die. Before she had clung to the slight chance that they may come up as the victors but with Kakashi immobilized, there wasn't a shred of hope to cling to.

"Your mission is to protect the bridge builder! STAY ON MISSION" Kakashi shouted

'I feel so weak'

 **'That's because we are'**

'How are they so strong?'

A picture of a still figure began appeared in her mind.

Over the course of her 'training', Sakura had read many, **many** books. She had read human anatomy guides, medicine, and poison recipes, she had even read dozens of autobiographies and biographies of some of the strongest Shinobi ever thought to live. Over time she had learned to look up and idolize many of them. However one, in particular, stood out to her the most, and he was Senju Tobirama.

Many argued with her over her admiration for the second Hokage instead choosing to look up to his older brother. In fact many despised him claiming that at the time of his ruling, Konoha had lost its humanity. Though she chose to see it differently.

Some saw him as heartless she saw him as realistic. What some saw as emotionless and ruthless she saw as a true, honorable shinobi. Ruthless and a savage was in her eyes someone that got the job done efficiently. His cruel strategies were smart and effective when it came to her logic. The list goes on.

She had spent quite a bit of time searching up the second Hokage, trying desperately to understand other people's logic. They had to have a reason behind their beliefs. What wasn't she seeing? Yet every bit of information she learned about the white-haired Senju only made her admire him more.

And when the Hokage had found out, due to a slip of the tongue on her part, he had offered her a piece of information she could not resist.

 _"You look up to Tobirama, don't you little one?"_

 _Sakura could only nod her head, allowing her pink hair to curtain her face. She knew she shouldn't but she was ashamed of her idolization of the Senju. What if the Hokage had the same train of thought as all those other people. What if he thought Tobirama was ruthless just like everyone else. What if her looking up to Tobirama made him think differently of her -_

 _"May I ask why. It just seems to me that many people chose to fear and despise him instead of adoring him as you have chosen. And they have good reason as well. After all, it was by Tobirama's orders that the Konoha Military Police Force was built. He also gave the Uchiha's and only the Uchiha's full control over it which many people believed was the main reason that led to the isolation of the Uchiha's. It is also believed to be the main cause of the massacre. His time of ruling was a heartless and ruthless era with– "_

 _"But it was a safe one. I don't know why Tobirama Sama created the Konoha Military Police Force neither do I know why he made the Uchiha clan in charge of it" she admitted, interrupting the Hokage who didn't seem to mind but instead gave her his full attention "but I have my theories. I don't know Tobirama Sama personally like you do Hokage Sama, but what I have concluded from the research I was able to do on him, is that he was a realistic man with a clear vision. We live in a world where you could be stabbed in the back at any moment and it was even worse back then. I believe Tobirama saw the world for its true colors. Unlike his brother, he didn't strive for something he knew was impossible he instead aimed for what he knew would benefit his village and his loved people. He cared about the village more than he led on –" Sakura immediately closed her mouth once she realized what she had just done. She had interrupted the Hokage, not to mention contradicted him! Damn, she was so stupid! "I-I mean that is what I got from what I have researched sir. I could be wrong, after all, I don't know Tobirama Sama like you do Hokage Sama. I sincerely apologize if I offended you in–"_

 _This time the pinkette was interrupted but the sounds of booming laughter that escaped the Hokage's mouth. By now the old man was bending over his desk wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. All the while leaving Sakura frozen in her position, silently hoping that she wasn't in trouble and that the Hokage hasn't completely lost it._

 _"Oh no, you're correct in your assumption Sakura-Chan" the older man coughed out as he calmed down enough to speak "it's just that it's very rare to come across someone who is willing to overlook the means for the results._ Especially _when it comes to Tobirama Sensei. I bet he would've like you" the elder noted softly. His usual kind but hard eyes softening as he reminisced about his old sensei._

 _Sakura could feel her cheeks heat up at the compliment. Suddenly her shoes seemed ten times more interesting._

 _"Listen carefully Sakura-chan. I want to give you a piece of advice that Tobirama Sensei had given me a long time ago" Sakura nodded eagerly as she stepped closer subconsciously. A fond smile came to Sarutobi's face and the small action, he couldn't help but see a bit of Tobirama in the girl. "You don't have to be strong you only have to act strong. Keep those words close to you, they might just save your life one day"_

Up until now, Sakura had never understood what the older had meant but at the moment she wanted to slap herself for not figuring it out earlier.

'If we show our fear we're bound to be at a disadvantage. We have to be strong or at least act strong'

Stepping forward. With a little help from Inner, Sakura was able to push the fear that was eating at her to the back of her mind. Once she was sure her nerves were in check she spoke up, making sure her form and tone radiated confidence even though on the inside she was shaking and trembling in fear.

She wasn't going to outright disrespect Zabuza, no she didn't have a death wish nor was she that brave…or stupid. She was only going to attempt to stand her ground, to reflect a sense of confidence, even if that confidence was misplaced. She could not afford to show her dismay and panic at the situation. Her only chance was pretending that she wasn't intimidated by him or death itself when in reality it was quite the opposite.

"I don't really think we could do that sensei. You said it yourself we're no match for Zabuza. We were barely winning even with you on our side...no offense. So imagine us trying to run away from him. I don't mean to be the bringer of bad news but he'd find us in seconds not to mention kill us in half the time." She then turned to the bridge builder "but we could just follow your orders, Tazuna. After all, you are the one that requested this mission, you are our client, it all comes down to you" it was obvious what she was trying to do, she just hoped the Tazuna would play along.

"Well I-I guess it's my fault we're in this situation, to begin with. This is all because of my desire to live…but I won't let that get in your way anymore. Forget about me. Do what you have to do to save you sensei"

"You heard what Tazuna said right?" Sakura questioned with a playful and teasing tone in her voice, which she struggled to maintain under the hard gaze of the missing-nin "let's go save our sensei"

…

'Th-This man, he's n-n-not h-h-hu-human' Sakura screamed in her mind, pure terror filling her eyes as her body trembled. The man had done nothing but tell his story yet he struck fear into her. Fear she had never experienced before…no, that not right. Fear she had experience only once in her life. Fear she had felt when she saw her parents' mangled corpse. Though back then she feared for their lives. Today, she feared for her own life.

She could just imagine herself on the ground surrounded by a pool of her own blood. The image shot fea – no, that's not right either. The image that truly scared her was not of her own death but of the deaths of the people around her. Kakashi Sensei, Sasuke, Naruto, even Tazuna. When she had lost her parents she felt as if she had lost a piece of herself as well. She was still in pain from the incident. To be honest she didn't know if she could ever recover. Sakura could not imagine losing her team. Especially when they were the only precious people she had left.

" _The people you ate with at launch, the people you shared your dreams with. In the end, it was either you or them"_

' **That is so cruel. No one deserves that'**

A picture of her parents' corpse flashed before her eyes. They didn't deserve death, especially one as ruthless and painful as the one they had been given. They were amazing people. They gave so much to the people around them and expected nothing in return. They worked hard to make sure their village flourished. Yet they still died a horrid death.

Yes, the test was cruel, but so was life. Wasn't it cruel for her parents to die the way the did? Was it not cruel to leave her alone? Was it not cruel to let her sink into a bottomless pit of pain and suffering only to pull her back up just as it was about to end? Was it not cruel to give her false hope? To make her believe that she actually stood a chance in the real world. That she actually stood a chance against people like Zabuza.

"Oh look at that, pinky's shaking in fear" a deep voice noted teasingly, drawing Sakura from her deep state of thought. She could make out Naruto and Sasuke's beaten forms laying on the ground as they withered in pain.

'I **AM** AFRAID. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STAND A CHANCE AGAINST SOMEONE LIKE ZABUZA.'

She wanted so badly to scream her thoughts but her mouth wouldn't seem to function as she seemed only able to stare at the approaching figure of Zabuza with pure terror clear in her emerald eyes.

' **Outer move'**

'I'm going to die'

' **Outer, you need to move now!'**

'I'm going to die'

' **Would you stop saying that and move!'**

'I'm going to die'

' **You're not the only one who will die if you don't move!'**

'I'm going to die'

' **Outer think of Kakashi, think of Naruto. Heck even think of Sasuke and Tazuna. If you don't move then you'll really die and won't be able to protect them. So for the last time. MOVE!"**

That seemed to finally snap her out of her trance as she jumped to the side just in time to miss being decapitated by Zabuza's sword.

"Well, at least you had half a mind to doge, but your still shaking little girl" Zabuza drawled out, walking closer to Sakura.

True to his words, Sakura was still shaking.

'I'm not strong enough, I'll never be able to beat Zabuza'

' **Remember Outer you don't have to be strong you only have to act strong.'**

Nodding, Sakura proceeded to stand up but her limps wouldn't stop convulsing and trembling.

"I'm not shaking in fear, I-I'm just excited!" Sakura scolded herself internally for stuttering but quickly gave a crocked but confident smirk to hide her mistake.

"Really?" Zabuza asked in disbelief, raising a brow. Though amusement was clear in his voice as he gazed down at the short pinkette "well, how about you show me what you've got, hey pinky"

"You're going to regret saying that" Sakura exclaimed fake confidence dripping from her words. Zabuza chuckled loudly at the young girl's cocky words. That laugh in itself almost caused Sakura to jumped out of her skin.

Sakura's ears twitched slightly as she heard Kakashi shouting at her to retreat, but that only fuelled her with more determination as she realized the state not only he was in but also the state her teammates were in.

Jumping back, Sakura sent a flurry of Kunai and Shuriken Zabuza's way. She knew he could flick them away with his sword in a second, but a second was all she needed.

Running towards her slowly rising teammates she quickly pulled out a huge Shuriken from her bag. She swiftly threw it at them. Hoping that they would understand her motives by the simple gesture. She didn't exactly have the time to explain the plan to them…especially not to Naruto.

She quickly charged at Zabuza, pulling out her weapons. Right now that was her best bet. Long range was probably the safest option for her currently, especially since he would probably have an even bigger advantage if he was closer seeing as his swords seemed to be crafted for close range fighting. Though given the circumstances she doubted it would make much of a difference.

"I'm not regretting my words, little girl" Zabuza stated, slight irritation and frustrations evident in his voice from not even being able to get closer to the girl, but the amusement still overpowered it.

"You will" she shot back, smirk still in place as she jumped back even more as he stepped closer. She really hoped the boys at least understood the plan by now, she wouldn't be able to last much longer against the Jounin.

Just as she dodged another one of her own Kunai that had been thrown her way by Zabuza, Naruto, and Sasuke, jumped beside her. Sasuke stepped up the Shurkin in his hand.

"Demon wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows" he mumbled the name of the Jutsu before jumping into the air and propelling the large weapon directly at the real Zabuza, completely ignoring the clone. Zabuza caught it effortlessly, yet just as he did another appeared from the first's shadow.

'The Shadow Shuriken Jutsu! Goddammit, who do they think we're up against! He can still doge that, especially with it aimed so low. He could just jump!'

Sakura thought, beginning to panic especially when what she had predicted actually happened. Yet she couldn't hide her surprise when the Shuriken turned out to be Naruto, better yet a Naruto armed with a Kunai. The Kunai soared towards the missing-nin, forcing him to let go of the Jutsu to dodge it, yet it still managed to nick his cheek.

Rage filled his eyes and he whipped his head towards the now frozen blonde. He growled before lunging at the boy with the very same Shuriken he had thrown at him, in his hand. Sakura's eyes widened and she immediately ran towards the duo, fear evident in her eyes as she finally let her smirk drop. It was clear she wouldn't be able to make it in time, yet she couldn't stop herself from running towards them.

'I can't lose someone else!'

Just as the weapon was about to pierce Naruto's neck, Kakashi appeared before him blocking the weapon with his fist. For a second an eerie silence fell over the field, no one daring to make a sound. Zabuza stared at Kakashi in surprise, while the latter had his head down. As Kakashi finally looked up, Sakura caught a glimpse of cold, demonic red eyes.

'I-Is th-this rea-really K-Ka-Kakashi S-S-Sensei'

Though it didn't seem she was the only one afraid. Sakura could see Zabuza's pupils dilating, though it didn't seem that the others paid it much attention as they seemed busy celebrating Kakashi's freedom and their guaranteed victory apparently.

As Naruto went on a rant explaining the plan and bragging about how he immediately knew what Sakura meant when she threw the Shuriken to _him,_ a fact he was very proud of. Sakura could not believe it when Sasuke and even Tazuna joined in the conversation as if their enemy wasn't still alive and undeterred.

"Guys, yeah that was epic and all but Kakashi Sensei don't you think we should finish this while we still have the chance" Sakura suggested, sarcasm dripping from her tone as she gave them an exasperated look, when in fact she was still trying so hard to keep a light tone and not fall to her knees.

"Sakura's right. So Zabuza what's it going to be" Kakashi said never taking his eyes off his opponent. While Sakura was silently cursing him for revealing her name to a mass murder. Sure Sakura was a common name but pink haired girls named Sakura wasn't exactly common. Then again neither were pink haired girls in general, either way, she was an easy target to track down. Damn her weird genetics!

Suddenly the two sprang apart. Zabuza immediately began performing a complicated series of hand signs, Kakashi following his lead. Though what was odd was he was performing the exact same formation of hand signs. Sakura's eyes widened as she finally realized what was happening.

'So this is the power of the Sharingan'

All of a sudden two identical dragons formed from the water the two Jonin were standing on. The dragons collided sending massive waves of water towards the team of Genin. Without thinking, Sakura pushed Sasuke and Tazuna out of the way, but before she could join them to safety, she felt herself being picked up by the water. She felt her back colliding harshly with a trunk of a tree. She could feel and hear the tree cracking under the pressure but luckily it was able to withstand the worst of it.

'God that's definitely going to bruise'

Sakura thought as she tried to get up but quickly regretted it when she felt the tremendous pain that bloomed from her back from the simplest movement.

' **Bruise?! We'd be lucky if it was just broken!'**

For the rest of the battle Sakura would not be able to move, hell she'd be lucky if she would be able to move for the rest of the week.

She felt her guard drop slightly as she gazed upon the battle. Silent admiring and applauding Kakashi on his plan. She didn't quite know how he did it but he was slowly managing to blind Zabuza with his own rage.

' **D-do think the Sharingan could actually predict the future'**

'Maybe but I don't think so. If it really could the Uchiha clan would have been invisible. They were strong but eventually, they fell as well, by one of their own nonetheless. Though maybe it could be like a different stage or something for the Sharingan, or maybe only a few of the people that possess the Sharingan are able to look into the future. Though I'm really not sure, I don't know enough about the Sharingan or the Uchiha clan to speak. But maybe when – if we go back home we could look it up, or even ask Kakashi Sensei or maybe even Sasuke…but I doubt he'll want to help'

While she was lost in thought one of the Jounin must have cast another water Jutsu, because before she knew it she was being pushed further into the breaking tree until it finally snapped and she was propelled further into the forest. The remains of the tree stabbing her back. Her body was hurled, around, crashing into many trees and what remained of the once thick forest. Until finally the water seemed to retract back into the ocean. Leaving her broken, bleeding and battered body laying on the remains of the forest.

She wanted to scream out in pain. Scream for help. But her throat felt...suffocated. With her own blood. Tears mixed with blood as they streamed down her cheeks. The pain, the pain was indescribable. She felt as if her body was being torn limb from limb. Her chest felt heavy. Blood clogged her throat.

Blood. Blood was everywhere. She could even see splotches of red in her vision. But pretty soon she could not see anything as darkness forcefully took a hold of her, bringing her into its silent depths.

…

Author's Note: I was really tempted to make Sakura do this super, one of a kind, impossible Jutsu that she created and is basically impossible to replicate and just is badass in general…but that isn't exactly realistic.

So anyway as I was giving this a quick re-read I noticed that it seemed somewhat rushed. So I wanted to ask if you noticed as well. I want to know if it is, in fact, true or I'm just overthinking it. Becuase I did spend a lot of time writing and thinking about this chapter.

Please note as well that I did not go into depth with the fight. I wrote the parts that I thought were significant or contributed to the story. I also changed some things in the story so it would fit better with the plot...and to give Sakura some spotlight.

As I was editing this I realized that it might be confusing since I said Zabuza charged at Naruto with his own Kunai. Why wouldn't use his sword? It was because his clone had the sword. Just thought I would clear it up, just in case.

Also, I just noticed how I went on at Naruto in this chapter. I honestly did not mean to. I love him, I just couldn't help it. Besides, I think it adds a humorous touch.

Lastly, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I made sure to make a bit longer than usual to make up for the long wait. Please leave a review and like always I welcome helpful criticism.

 ** _R_**

 ** _E_**

 ** _V_**

 ** _I_**

 ** _E_**

 ** _W_**


	7. Chapter 7

Title: Grief is just love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 3,025

Page Count: 6 (Six)

Genre: hurt/comfort and maybe a little bit of romance here and there

Paring: SakuMulti (So Sakura paired up with multiple guys hence the name Saku _Multi_ )

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 _Emphasize_ (or it could just mean sarcasm)

 **Emphasize (2)**

... Page Break (I don't know what to call it, it just basically means it's a different scene)

...

 **Chapter Seven**

Kakashi's eyes fluttered open before quickly squeezing shut at the onslaught of bright sunlight. After so long of pure darkness his eyes needed time to adjust to the light. After a few minutes, Kakashi opened his eyes once again, letting the events of the past few days wash over him.

'I think I overdid it with the Sharingan'

He thought grimly as he felt pain shoot throughout his body. He suddenly heard the soft thudding of feet hitting the wooden ground. His guard rose gradually as the sound grew closer and closer. It wasn't long before a young woman appeared in his line of vision. He hands instinctively went to clutch his Kunai holster but were met with nothing but thin air. Upon close inspection of not only the woman but also his surrounding, Kakashi figured that he had probably passed out due to exhaustion and that he was at Tazuna's house and that the woman was most likely Tazuna's daughter. The very same one he used in guilt-tripping them.

The woman was quite beautiful, with her long dark hair, deep brown eyes, and fair skin. She wore a short-sleeved pink shirt with red outlining, along with a dark navy skirt and wooden sandals. Her aura radiated elegance.

"Waking up I see." The woman noted with a hint of scolding in her voice "Are you alright?" she stood hovering above him with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows furrowed.

"I've been better" he replied honestly but refused to share the extent of his pain at the moment "It'll be a week before I can move normally" he informed, grunting as he struggled to sit up.

"Right, so it will be better if you don't move at all. So just lay down." She scolded him, standing her ground.

"Right" he agreed reluctantly, laying back down. Suddenly something popped into his mind "where are Tazuna and the kids?" he inquired, figuring they would be somewhere else in the house resting but he cast the thought away as he saw the woman's face fill with worry.

"Well, dad and two boys had dropped you off. They were also carrying and an unconscious girl" at that Kakashi's ears perked up, feeling dread beginning to pool into his stomach "I wasn't able to get a good look at her but even then, I could tell she was in a horrible condition. I wouldn't have been able to do anything for the poor child so dad took her to the local doctor" she explained but she didn't seem reassured if anything she seemed even more concerned and on edge "but truth be told our doctors don't even know what they're doing, and being in poverty we don't have the equipment or the clean space to do anything for that poor girl. I could tell some of her wounds were already infected. I've never seen anyone – let alone a child! In that condition. Her whole body was covered in wounds. Blood was dripping from her ha – "

Before the woman could continue Kakashi jumped out the futon that had been rolled out for him on the floor. Already heading for the door and ignoring the woman's shouts to come back. He ran to where he could vaguely make out familiar chakra signals. Yet one among them was dangerously low, which only proved to fuel his concern.

…

Kakashi didn't bother knocking at the broken beaten door of the clinic instead just slamming the door open and barging in. The sight that awaited him was anything but welcoming to say the least.

Sakura. His student. The pink haired sweetheart. Was laying on a once white futon. Her eyes were tightly closed. Blood was flowing out of her hands in an endless river. Her shirt hand been discarded leaving her in nothing band bandages wrapped tightly around her chest. A huge bruise was blooming in the centre of her stomach. Small bruises and discoloration littered her once flawless pale skin. Her right hand was twisted in an unnatural angle. Pieces of wood littered her body. The woman was right in her assumptions, most of the wounds seemed infected or at the very least on their way to being infected.

He immediately rushed to his student, fear beginning to creep onto him. He ignored Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna, all of who looked scared and seemed to have cried at one point, even Sasuke. He didn't think twice before pushing chakra into his hand and placing his glowing hands onto the unconscious pinkette. He ignored the doctor's awed expression and focused on the pinkette in his arms. He watched as her features relaxed, feeling relief wash over him but still never stopped the steady flow of slowly depleting chakra.

As a Jounin he was required to know some medical Ninjustsu and he had never been more grateful for it in his whole life. He couldn't afford to lose someone else. He couldn't afford to lose her.

Kakashi wouldn't be able to heal all of Sakura's wounds. He wasn't that skilled in the medical field. All he could do was heal the splinter wounds. Lightly disinfect some of her wounds. Urge her bone into healing in the right direction, and…and numb some of the pain…but not for long.

Hours passed, and in the span of those hours, he had done what any moderately skill medical nin would have done in ten minutes. He suddenly hated himself for not taking the opportunity to build upon his basics in the Medical Ninjutsu when he had the chance. Even though he knew back then he wouldn't have gone far seeing at that time he didn't have much chakra control or patience. He still wished he could do more for his student. His Sakura-chan.

As what little chakra he had left continued to pour out of him, Kakashi began to feel the effects of the battle. His body burned with a searing pain. The salty air met his wounds even through the thin bandages. Sweat rolled down his battered body, and his clothes stuck to his skin like a second skin, even sinking into some of his deeper, opened wounds.

Dizziness began to take over him and his vision blurred. He knew he was teetering on the edge of his chakra supply but he just kept pushing his energy into the unconscious pinkette under him. By now he couldn't even comprehend what he was doing anymore.

He had already pushed her bones in the right direction to healing properly. He had closed some of her deeper cuts and made sure that her broken ribs wouldn't interfere with anything. Yet her breathing was still erratic and uneven. Her heartbeat was slower than normal. Her face was an unhealthy pale colour, her skin seemed to be stripped of all colour.

'She can't die'

For hours on hours that was the only thing on his mind. He chanted it again and again, until finally Sakura's breathing seemed to calm down and her heart beat began to pick up the pace.

Relief flashed in his eyes and the corner of his lips tugged upwards in a faint smile. He opened his mouth about to speak as the members of teams seven all eagerly leaned closer, anxious to hear about their fallen teammate. But before a word could pass from his parted lips Kakashi felt darkness consume him for the second time. He felt his body drop and land on top of a small, soft body.

...

A groan left parted pink lips as a certain young pinkette groggily blinked her eyes open, only to have her sensitive eyes invaded with glaring sunlight. Another pained groan left her lips as the pain came crashing into her body like waves crashing onto a shore. She closed her eyes willing her body to get accustomed to the pain. They wounds weren't nearly as painful as they had been when she had first acquired them, yet it wasn't anything to laugh at either.

After a few minutes, she finally was able to push the pain to the back of her mind. As she opened her eyes, she was glad to see a ceiling over her head, that probably means that Tazuna and the boys were able to find and drag her body to, most likely, Tarzana's house.

For the first time since gaining consciousness, Sakura noticed a weight on her stomach, she let her eyes fall to her torso. Her eyes scanned the man currently squishing her under his weight. Kakashi had his face buried into her torso. His arms wrapped tightly around her.

She tried to gently untangle herself from him, not wanting to wake him up as she knew he must be exhausted after his fight against Zabuza. Yet her plan didn't seem to work as he wove his arms tighter around her form, bringing her closer if possible and burying his face deeper into her stomach.

Sakura felt her face tint pink as she struggled to get away from her sensei. She was about ready to bonk him on the head and demand he unhand her...no matter how awkward the situation might turn out to be.

As she raised her fist in the air, planning to put her plan to action, a gruff voice rung out through the room.

"Please don't do that"

Sakura quickly whipped her head to the direction of the voice, cursing slightly as the action brought unimaginable pain onto her.

The man immediately rushed towards her, pushing her genteelly to lay back down. Her eyes widened as she tried to fight back but her body didn't seem to be functioning properly.

"Who are you" she croaked out, just now realizing how dry her throat felt.

The man cast her a sympathetic glance, causing something to stir inside her. God, she hadted that look. "I'm sorry I would give you water but all the water we have has salt and since your throats was bleeding there are probably cuts inside your throat. I don't think that'd be a good idea" he explained, sympathy still clear in his eyes.

"Who are you" she repeated making sure to spit in the man's face.

"Your doctor," the man said finally relenting as he wiped the saliva from him face.

Sakura felt suspicion creep onto her as she examined the man further. His dark brown hair was caked with dirt and grease. His pale face littered with a few wrinkles. His attire was dirty and shredded to the point where Sakura could no longer tell the original colour of his clothing. He was barefoot and his whole appearance scream unsanitary.

She doubted a doctor would care so little for hygiene. Then again, this village probably couldn't afford simple luxuries such as hygienic products. And to add to that Kakashi had let his guard in front of him to the point where he is sleeping in his presence, so he must trust the man to some degree.

The man opened his mouth, a grin on his lips as he seemed to forget about the girl's earlier rude actions. Ashe was about to speak the squeaky door opened once again, sounding as if it would pop off its hinges at any second.

Sakura craned her neck slightly to look over the "doctor's" shoulder. A young boy who looked no older than fourteen to fifteen-year-old, stood in front of the door. The boy had tanned skin. Rugged black hair, and his eyes a deep brown. His facial structure was sharp especially his nose and jawline. He was wearing a dirty, ripped tan shirt, navy shorts and sandals.

His eyes narrowed as he set his eyes on her. For a second Sakura reverted to her old self. Thoughts of how handsome the boy was crossed through her mind. She felt the heat sneak on to her cheeks, she immediately brought her hands up to her head to pat her greasy hair, suddenly feeling self-conscience about her appearance.

The boy seemed to notice as a devious smirk made its way on to his pink thin lips.

"So, this is the ninja you were talking about, eh Father?" the boy inquired, raising a perfect brow. Sakura felt her heart pound against her ribcage, at the simple gesture, its beats resonating in her ear. The boy was truly handsome and seemed well aware of it as well.

"She doesn't look like a battle-hardened Shinobi to me" he stated. For a second Sakura felt a stab at her ego. Yet her fangirl brain reasoned that, since the incredibly handsome boy was a civilian he probably didn't know that his comment could be taken as disrespect. He probably only meant to complement her. He probably thought all Shinobi were big brutes with bugling muscles and too many hideous scars to count. He was saying she was pretty. Her skin was flawless with no blemishes. Her body was lean and slim. Her –

"She looks too weak to be a Shinobi"

Sakura felt herself freeze and tense up. She could feel her heart squeeze tightly. A bile rose in her throat. To think a civilian couldn't even recognize her as a shinobi. Did she really appear that fragile? No, she was sugar coating it for herself. Did she really appear that weak?

The world around her seemed to blur. It felt as if cotton had been stuffed into her ears. She felt as if her arms were as heavy as led. It was difficult to breath. She could vaguely make out the words of the doctor, but she couldn't actually bring herself to care enough to actually process the meaning of his words.

"Natsu! How dare you disrespect our guests! This girl put her life on the line to try to give us a brighter future! How could you be so disrespectful to her! All the wounds she has now were gained fighting for people she never ever met and probably never even heard of before meeting Tazuna!.." the man continued ranting for…well Sakura had lost count of how many minutes had ticked by.

The boy merely huffed and turned his head stubbornly, looking like an ignited child about to throw a tantrum.

"Haruno-san I apologize deeply." The man said, turning around to address her himself as he finally accepted that his son would not relent any time soon. He bowed deeply from he stood in front of her and Sakura wondered why he would show such respect to someone like her. It was true what his son had said she had done nothing but stand at the side-lines, sure she had gotten involved a few times but had done nothing significant enough to interfere with the course of the fight. "Ignore my son. He is after all just a teenager. He must be entering his rebellious stage or something along those lines – "

"No" Sakura said cutting him off. He seemed shocked and confused at her denial, even his son had turned around to face her, seemingly interested. "he didn't say anything wrong…I really am weak" she admitted bitterly. Spitting out the last word as it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"No! please do not say that…" the man continued to ramble on for the second time since she had met him, but Sakura had long since stopped listening, knowing by now how long the man could go on talking.

' **The hell Outer! I don't think someone weak could survive going against Zabuza'**

'We didn't go against Zabuza, Kakashi Sensei did'

' **But we did face him off, when he attacked the formation'**

'Inner that was barely a fraction of his power besides it didn't last a second, we even had to call Kakashi Sensei over for help'

' **Sure Outer, but we're still Genin. Saying that we not only saw Zabuza and lived, but we fought him and even taunted him AND LIVED, some may say it was a miracle'**

'Inner it doesn't matter how old we are, we are still Shinobi. Uchiha Itachi was an ANBU at our age! There are even people out there who are younger than us but could even beat Sensei.'

' **B-b-bu-but we are NOT WEAK'**

'We are…but – '

"I might be weak now" she spoke up shocking and interrupting the doctor who was still rambling. She looked down at Kakashi's peaceful face still buried in her torso. Slowly she brought her hand to stroke his hair. "But I will change. I will gain strength. I have to. For the ones I love. For so long I was nothing but dead weight" her voice was soft and serene contradicting with her harsh, venomous words. Her jade eyes scanned the older man lying on her numb lap, fondness was clear in her eyes. For a moment Natsu found himself mesmerized by the pure emotion shinning in her eyes. "for so long everyone else was protecting me. They were the people putting their lives on the line for me, but not anymore. From now on I will be the one protecting them. I will do whatever it takes to make sure their lives are safe…even if it means putting my own in harm's way"

Silence fell upon them, yet it was different, it was a calming and comfortable silence. Sakura felt at ease after saying what she had been repeating over and over in her mind for so long. Yet as she was saying it out loud, it felt as if she was sealing a promise. Yet unknown to her, on more ear, than she intended had heard what she had said.

…

Author Note: I decided to include an OC in this chapter (Natsu), to be honest, it was more of a last-minute thing so I really didn't give him much thought, I really just put whatever features that came to mind. I don't know yet if he is going to be a big part of this story or not, but if so, then I regret not giving his appearance and personality more thought, to be frank, he just seems like a second Sasuke to me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

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	8. Chapter 8

Title: Grief Is Just Love

Author: CreativityIsIntelligence

Word Count: 5,015

Page Count: 9 (Nine)

…

Keys

"Talking"

'Thinking'

' **Inner'**

 _Emphasize_ (or it could just mean sarcasm)

 **Emphasize** (2)

 **Chapter Eight**

"I still want to know who you are?" Sakura spoke suddenly, breaking the silence. Natsu had already left so it was just her and the "doctor".

She was now somewhat at ease in his presence but she couldn't shake off her curiosity. This guy couldn't be a doctor, especially not one that was able to heal her when she had been in a near death state. Granted she hasn't healed completely but the risk of death from her injuries was now slimmer.

"I told you, I'm a doctor" the man seemed confused, answering slowly as if he doubted the girl could understand.

' **Hey! My whole body may be battered but my brilliant brain is still functioning at full capacity thank you very much!'**

'Are you the one in pain here? No. I am; therefore it is MY body.'

'…'

"Doctor" Sakura cut him off, rolling her eyes "I know, but you can't expect me to believe that you healed me, do you **doctor**?" Sakura had no idea what had gotten over her, she was normally very respectfully towards her elders. Maybe it was the overbearing suspicion she felt towards the man, or the paranoia that seemed to never leave her side ever since she lost her parents.

The "doctor" looked around the room nervously, obviously debating whether he should speak or not. Yet, in the end he decided to speak. "you were brought to my clinic – "

' **Is that what this is?! I thought it was a shed…'**

"– However, due to my… _circumstances_ , I was not equipped to help you – I wasn't **capable** of helping you. But that man – " he then processed to point at Kakashi, who as if on cue snuggled closer to her, burying his face into her torso. "was able to heal most of your fatal injuries. I believe he did so, by transmitting some kind of blue energy into your body. It was truly a wonderous sight" the man's eyes seemed to glaze over as he reminisced on the event, getting lost in his thoughts.

' **Chakra?** '

'Obviously. But I don't see any signs of burns on me, and neither does Kakashi Sensei by the looks of it.'

As much as she tried to push the thoughts to the back of her head, images of her parents' bloody, motionless corpses flashed in her eyes, and she felt bile rise up in her throat the more she thought about the image, tears began to well up in her eyes. Yet the doctor seemed too caught up in his own thoughts to notice her mental breakdown, something she was grateful for.

Unlike her earlier determination, she felt weak. She wanted to embrace the family she had with Team Seven, but she also didn't want to give up on her real family.

'… **maybe it has something to do with Chakra control?'**

Sakura knew Inner was trying to distract her, but she didn't think about it for the long. It was for the better that Inner had stepped in, there was no telling what her thoughts could have led to if she was left to dwell.

'That can't be it, we have nearly perfect Chakra control'

Sakura last track of the time she spent considering all plausible aspects. Maybe it wasn't merely where she directed her chakra but rather the amount she used. If chakra control meant leading chakra where you want it to go, then she did absolutely nothing wrong, but that was not what chakra control meant. Controlling the flow of Chakra also fell under Chakra control, and that might have been where she made a mistake, a fatal one at that. It seemed that in her grief driven stat she had poured out all the Chakra she could reach at one go. Chakra was not only a Shinobi's source of power, but his life source as well. She also didn't have much stamina to relay on. If her Chakra reserves had run out, best case scenario would be that she would have been knocked out in a coma for god knows how long, and she didn't even want to think about the worst possible outcome. Yet even with knowing what she had done might as well have led to her death, she didn't regret it. If there was even a slither of a chance of being able to see her parents again, embrace them, speak to them, even if it were merely minutes before she lost her own life, she wouldn't hesitate to take it…no matter the consequences.

But before she cold delves deeper into her new train of thought, Sakura was shaken out of her thoughts, quite literally. All she could see was a blob of yellow and orange, it didn't take a genius to figure out who was shaking her, and as much as she wanted to tell him to stop, she couldn't, she was too busy clamping her lips shut so that the bile won't escape.

"Sakura Chan! You're awake! You've been sleeping for so long!" the hyperactive blonde exclaimed, letting her go to use his arms instead to act out elaborate gestures, that honestly looked to Sakura as if he was having a seizure. Yet as soon as he was done with his words he immediately went back to shaking her, seemingly unaware of how her face was tinging green.

"Let her go dope" Sasuke's voice sounded through the room, momentarily stopping Naruto as he turned around to order to stick his tongue out to him.

Sakura couldn't help but notice and feel a little disappointed at how Sasuke's voice still remained stoic and indifferent. She had been hoping that what they had been through these past few days would be enough for him to warm up to them. She knew he cared about them, no amount of harsh words would make her doubt that. Yet she still whished he would understand he was safe with them, maybe then he would relax a bit around them, show his vulnerable self.

' **We really shouldn't be talking Outer…'**

Sakura chose to ignore her Inner's words, instead focusing on the conversation unfolding before her.

"Yeah you idiot! Pinky is already bad off as it is, we don't need her loosing anymore braincells. She's the only one in this group with a brain." Tazuna shouted. For once his bottle of sake nowhere to be seen. Sakura wouldn't consider his words a compliment per say, her intelligence was being compared to that of Naruto's after all. Naruto didn't exactly excel in academics, which is what she based her intelligence off of. Though Naruto was street smart, how else would he have been able to escape the Chunnin in his pranking days? Besides she was also being compared to Kakashi and Sasuke, who were both geniuses in their own right, however she was being compared to them by a civilian who had limited knowledge about Shinobis and also had no idea about the inner workings of the team. Yet she was still grateful for the comment, nodding towards him with a small smile when the world stopped spinning.

Naruto huffed, as much as he wanted to beat the old geezer, he didn't want to leave Sakura unattended to, or worse, in the hands of **Sasuke**. The mere thought shot shivers up his spine. So instead, he bottled up his rage and turned back to the pinkette.

"Are you alright Sakura Chan?" he knew he should have asked the question when he first saw her, yet he was afraid to hear the answer.

"Yes," Sakura croaked out, her throat dry. Her voice sounded different, rougher, thought it was most likely the fact that it had been a while since she had spoken.

Naruto sighed, he knew that she was lying, anyone with eyes could tell. She was obviously in a tremendous amount of pain and thinking that in his excitement he might have triggered some of it, caused guilt to well up in his chest, his eyes glazing over with unshed tears.

He almost jumped out of his skin, when he felt a weak dainty hand rest on top of his hand. He looked down only to see Sakura weakly grasping his hand with her own, a small but encouraging smile on her lips.

He couldn't help but smile back, sniffling slightly while trying to keep his tears at bay, he didn't want to seem weak in front of Sakura.

He slowly began to move in, planning to give the pinkette a hug but before he could he noticed something blocking him from Sakura.

For a minute his mind went blank as he stared unblinkingly at Kakashi, who was blocking him from hugging his Sakura-Chan, not to mention hugging her himself. It took him a moment to remember the series of events that led to this.

Kakashi had been exhausted and had passed out immediately after healing Sakura. Since he had lost consciousness so suddenly, none of them were able to react fast enough, causing Kakashi's limb body to fall on top of Sakura's. Thankfully, none of Sakura's injuries were opened up by the sudden movement.

After making sure that Kakashi's pulse was still there Naruto, immediately set to work on trying to lift Kakashi off of Sakura. Though all his attempts were in vain as with every tug he made in hopes of putting distance between them, whatever distance there was, to begin with, seemed to shrink as Kakashi wrapped his arms around the pinkette's waist, pulling himself closer to her.

After that Tazuna, the doctor, and even Sasuke, all tried but were all unsuccessful in the end. Well, they were successful in making whatever distance between Sakura and Kakashi promptly disappear, but that wasn't exactly what they were aiming towards.

Many attempts later, they settled on letting the two rest. Besides they didn't know what would be the next step Kakashi would make to get closer to Sakura when there truly was no space between them, and they would rather no find out. Yet two certain young boys insisted on keeping watch over the two.

Not long after though, Tazuna announced that he had to go back home to check on his family. "They must be worried" he said "after all I told them I would be back a day ago". However, he insisted that both Sasuke and Naruto escort him to his home, claiming that he needed protection and that, after all, it was their job. When in reality he just wanted to make sure Sakura and Kakashi could rest well without Sasuke and Naruto constantly breathing down their necks

….

Sakura sat with her back propped against the wobbling wooden wall. She could feel the splinters of the wall digging into her back, but she ignored it. Kakashi-sensei was still using her as a pillow, but she had managed to get him to lay down on her lap so that she could sit up properly. Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna surrounded her, sitting around her in a semi-circle. The doctor had gone out, saying he needed to run some errands and he had dragged his son with him as well.

"So, a tracker nin killed Zabuza just as Kakashi-sensei was about to deliver the final blow? And he _took_ Zabuza's body with him?" Sakura spoke slowly, summing up everything that the group had told her of what had occurred since she lost consciousness. She absentmindedly ran her slender fingers through Kakashi's mane, who was still fast asleep. She would have thought that Kakashi's hair would have been hard as a rock for some reason…maybe it was way it stood straight up, literally defying gravity…but it was surprisingly very soft, and Sakura found herself running her finger through it subconsciously, unaware of the two pairs of eyes glaring directly at where her fingers touch silver hair.

"Yes, I don't get why this is so hard for you to understand." Sasuke grunted, tearing his eyes away from Kakashi's head. This had been the third time they had repeated the events that had taken place when she passed out, and for some reason the usually intelligent girl could not seem to comprehend it.

"Shut up Teme! Sakura is much smarter than you! – " the blonde had immediately jumped to the pinkette's defence, forgetting the fact that his beloved Sakura-chan was touching a disgusting creature like Kakashi-sensei.

"No Naruto, he's right, I don't understand. What did he do to the body?" Sakura asked, straightening up slightly, but making sure she didn't disturb Kakashi-sensei. She focused her attention on Sasuke, yet her hands still worked on messaging her sensei's scalp.

"We don't know. He took the body with him" Sasuke could feel Sakura's emerald eyes on him. It was something he hadn't felt in a while, ever since Sakura had suddenly quit her fangirl tendencies. For some reason it felt good, he hadn't known he had missed the feeling up until he felt it again. He was too caught up in the feeling that he didn't realize what Sakura was implying.

"Did you catch the weapon he was using?" Sakura asked, leaning forward eagerly. The more pieces of information she gained the more everything seemed to become more complex and jumbled. It just didn't make sense.

Just as Sasuke was about to answer, Naruto jumped at the chance to have Sakura's attention on him "I don't what they're called but they looked like needles, like the big scary ones that the nurses use at the hospital"

"Senbo?" Sakura uttered in confusion, her confusion only increased when an irritated Sasuke nodded in confirmation.

' **Why would a Tracker nin use Senbo?'**

'Exactly, nothing adds up. Senbo are rarely used to kill. Besides, shouldn't he have just finished off the body on the spot, it doesn't make sense for him to transport it, and going by what Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna are saying, Zabuza was probably twice the Tracker nin's weight, it would just be an unconvinced to carry him.'

' **But didn't they say his heart stopped? Even Kakashi-sensei checked?'**

'I don't know much about Tracker nins but it would only make sense for them to be trained to know every detail of the human body. After all, they are the ones held responsible for making sure the secrets of the body don't fall into the wrong hands. So, for them, making a person fall into a temporary death state or even stopping their heart temporarily while keeping the body alive must be child's play.'

' **So, you're saying the tracker was trying to save Zabuza?'**

"Stop your yammering, little girl. All you need to know is that Zabuza is dead. You took one of the strongest people after me down, so you can rest for a while." Tazunza spoke up. Patting the girl on the head…with a little more force then necessary.

'We shouldn't ignore the suspicion…but they won't listen to us'

' **Might as well give it a try'**

"Zabuza's still alive" she blurted out without much thought, her facial expression blank, yet she was watching closely and gauging everyone's reactions. Naruto and Tazuna seemed in disbelief, while Sasuke seemed to be contemplating it…at less one of her teammates was sensible.

"Don't be crazy, little girl!" Tazuna shouted, the first to break the silence that had arrived after her claim.

"Sakura-chan maybe you need to rest more." Naruto muttered out unsure, but upon seeing the look of disbelief that Sakura gave him he tried to reason with her. "We saw his body!"

"Even Kakashi-sensei said his heart stopped"

'Never mind even Sasuke isn't sensible, or on my side…but that's not unusual'

"Sakura's right" a familiar voice rung throughout the room, causing everyone to look in the direction of their, once thought to be sleeping, sensei. Sakura felt her fingers suddenly freeze up, as she craned her neck slightly downwards to get a look at her sensei, only to meet to mismatch eyes looking right into her own emerald ones.

"Why'd you stop Sakura-chan, I was enjoying the message," Kakashi said teasingly, his eyes crinkling into their trademark crescent shape as he smiled cheekily from behind his mask.

Sakura felt heat rush to her face, as she turned just as pink as her hair. She wanted to jump back but her body wasn't in its best state, nor was the house they were in, she was pretty sure that one wrong move could cause the whole house to come tumbling down. So, she opted to cover her face with her palm instead.

Kakashi chuckled slightly, looking up fondly at his student. After moment, which felt treacherously long to Sakura, he attempted to sit up. Keyword: attempted. Yet alas he ended dropping right back onto Sakura's lap with a grunt. Sakura immediately sat up straight, her hand going to support his back, pushing him forward genteelly. That seemed to snap the boys out of whatever daze they were in as they immediately rushed to Kakashi's aid, assuring Sakura that they could handle it and that she should rest. After a few minutes Kakashi was also being propped by the now trembling wall.

"What'd you mean when you said, crazy was right? Don't tell me you're losing it as well" Tazuna said after he was sure he had Kakashi's full attention.

"No, Sakura's right…Zabuza is alive." At that he received even more shocked reactions from Naruto and Tazuna, while Sasuke seemed stone faced…as always. Kakashi turned to face Sakura, his smile still in place as he intrusted her to explain.

Cursing her lazy, flirtatious sensei in her mind, Sakura turned to face the rest of the team and Tazuna. "what you need to know is that a tracker nin wouldn't use throwing needle since they are not necessarily fatal, but the biggest clue is that the tracker took Zabuza's body with him instead of working on his body on the spot which is what he was supposed to do. From those to factors we can conclude that Zabuza is indeed alive."

"B-but" it seemed as Naruto was still stunned at the notion that Zabuza was alive as he stuttered and tripped over his words. "His heart stopped! Even Kakashi-sensei said so!" he pointed at Kakashi to prove his point further.

"Well Naruto, I can't exactly grantee this since I know very little about Tracker nins and their methods do differ from village to village but given their general job requirement, it would only be logical to assume that Tracker nin are capable of putting someone in a temporary death state, given their extensive knowledge about the human body." Sakura explained, trying to simplify the matter as much as possible, not only for Naruto' sake but also for Tazuna's. She was pretty sure Kakashi and Sasuke would be able to understand, but she wasn' so sure about Naruto, he was street genius, but that wasn't always enough, just like how book smarts weren't always enough either. As for Tazuna, well he had no prior knowledge about Shinobi and she was pretty sure he also had little to no knowledge in anatomy.

"I couldn't have said better myself" for some reason, Sakura felt her face heat up once again at the praise she received from her sensei. Damn her sensei and his flirtatious tendencies and damn her perverted inner as well.

"Don't you think your overthinking this" Tazuna exclaimed, baffled at the conspiracy theories that they the youngsters had come up with. Weren't they just over their heads. They had killed Zabuza, it was as easy as that, no need to complicate it.

"When encountering suspicion, a Shinobi prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster" Sakura spoke the words subconsciously, only realizing what she had said after the words left her lips. At her words every Shinobi in the room seemed to straighten up, while Tazuna's still seemed lost. "it is a saying every Shinobi knows" she explained, deciding to go with it. From the corner of her eye she could see Kakashi-sensei nodding in approval. Naruto looked as if he was shaking, for a second Sakura mistook it as fear but she quickly recognized it as excitement, as she saw his blue eyes burning with a hidden flame and his lips pulled into a wide, mischievous grin.

' **He is actually pleased to hear that Zabuza is alive, now he has another shot at him'**

For some reason, the notion gained Naruto more of her respect.

'And so do I'

"You said prepare quickly but how are we supposed to do that when two members of the team are incapable of moving" Sasuke pointed out. Sakura was surprised that Sasuke thought about the team instead of only himself, it was probably since Kakashi Sensei was the only person who could teach him at the moment, but she still felt overjoyed.

At his words Kakashi seemed to find humour, as he chuckled darkly. "Just because I can't move, doesn't mean I can't train you." For some reason there appeared to be an evil tone behind his words, yet Sakura couldn't help but find excitement in it. She knew that tone. Kakahsi only ever used it when it meant he was going to put them through hell and back for training, and usually that was the most effective kind of training.

"Besides I can move perfectly find. I'm in perfect condition" while saying this Sakura tried to push herself up, only to land right back down on her butt with a huff. "Okay maybe not _perfect_ condition but it's just a few bruises here and there."

"Oh really? I didn't know a broken arm, brunt and infected hands, broken ribs, a brusied and battered stomach, and not to mention of few other infections and bruises, counts as being in _perfect_ condition." Called out a new voice as the son of the doctor, Natsu, as Sakura has come to know him. He stood at the entrance, a few bags clutched in his hand and his brow raised, as he looked Sakura dead in the eyes, ignoring the other males in the room.

"Who the hell are you?!" Shouted Naruto, jumping up whilst pointing a Kunai at the boy, who barely even flinched, which was impressive considering he is a civilian. Sasuke didn't say a word, yet Sakura still managed to notice the way he tensed and how his hands immediately flew to rest on his Kunai pouch.

Sensing that her new…"friend" wasn't going to answer the question, Sakura took the liberty of answering for him. Drawing the attention back on herself, yet they all still kept a wary eye on the male.

"That's Natsu-Kun." She supplied, not noticing how Sasuke whispered the suffix after her, his voice low and coated with confusion and disbelief. "he's the son of the doctor."

She chose to ignore how the males in the room immediately got into a glaring contest, well Kakashi was just watching from the side-lines, his eyes glittering with amusement. He was just as bad as them, in her book, if he didn't do anything to interfere with the stupid show of male pride.

"Anyway" she trailed off, interrupting the silence that had fallen over them. "Like I was saying, I'm in perfe – " at the glare she receives from Natsu she paused, quickly rethinking her choice of words. "okay, I might have more than a few bruises but I'm fully capable of training." She finished stubbornly yet chose not to try to get up already having learned her lesson.

"No, you are not Sakura. You need all the rest you can get." This time it was Kakashi. Sakura felt her jaw slacken. Why was her Sensei not thinking straight?

"Yeah but I also need all the training I can get. I don't know if you've forgotten Kakashi-sensei, but you're not always going to be there to come to my rescues. If I don't gain strength now, when will I? Besides, I don't think Zabuza is above targeting the weakest link and I don't know if you noticed but I'm the weakest link." Her words wounded her, but just as they say admitting the problem is half the solution. The sooner she came to terms with what she lacked the easier and sooner she would be able to make up for it.

"I'll be there to protect you."

' **Is he serious?! WHY IS HE BEING SO STUBBORN?!'**

As much as Sakura wanted to blow up, and release her temper at her teammates, she knew it was neither the time or place. So she sucked it up and instead settled on using words to try to get through her sensei's thick skulls.

"What about Tazuna? Shouldn't your top priority be protecting him? And Naruto and Sasuke? They may be stronger then me but that doesn't say much, especially when compared to Zabuza."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'll protect you!" Sakura couldn't help but let her gaze soften at Naruto's naïve words. Which Kakashi found very unfair, he had just said the very same words yet all he received was a glare.

"I trust you Naruto, I really do. But I think you should focus of protecting yourself before you protect me." she spoke softly, speaking slowly and making sure she didn't hurt the blonde. Her eyes gazing at him with affection clear in her eyes, she opened her mouth about to continue but whatever she wanted to say was cut off by Kakashi clearing his throat.

"Sakura I'm sorry but I can't train you when you're in such a horrible condition" he spoke, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand. He made sure that he left no room for discussion, using a hard and unrelenting tone. Yet knowing Sakura she wouldn't give up so easily.

'Fine if you want to play like that so be it'

' **YES! SHOW THEM WHO'S IN CHARGE'**

"have it your way ill just train myself" Sakura announced, crossing her arms and lifting her chin up.

"and I'll just chain you up" Kakashi shot back nonchalantly, as if he wasn't threatening to tie his student up and that he wasn't ready to go through with his threat if need be.

"I can train my chakra control" Sakura replied, smugness clear in her eyes.

' **WHAT ARE GOING TO SAY NOW? HUH KAKASHI-** _ **SENSEI'**_

'He's still your sensei, show some respect'

Kakashi seemed surprised that she would even think of doing something this dangerous unsupervised "I'll just block your chakra pathways"

Sakura had to hide her surprise here, wow Kakashi had thought of everything. She was partially sure they weren't just empty words, and that kind of worried her. It also appeared to worry her teammates who were just watching wide eyed from the side-lines.

' **I did not expect that…'**

"and leave me completely defenseless" Kakashi sensei sure thought of everything, but so did she.

' **YES! Smart move outer! Appeal to what little humanity he has left!'**

'Inner…please…shut up'

' **No, I will not shut up! I will continue to say as I please, because this is not only your mind. I have as much right to speak as you do..'**

"I'm not winning this argument am I?" Kakashi asked, letting his head thumb against the wall. He opened his eyelids lazily, watching his student from the corner of his eye.

"Nope," Sakura exclaimed, popping the 'p', a large smile finding its way to her lips.

' **BETTER BELIEVE YOU'RE NOT!'**

'…you're turning into Naruto'

"Since when did you get so stubborn" Kakashi whined, closing his eyes. Unknowingly, he had steered the young girl's train of thought to a matter she would rather not think about. Her parents. It seemed their death had given her the wake up call she needed. She only wished they didn't have to die for her to realize just how wrong she was going about life. If only they were still alive, maybe she could have made up for the mistakes she made on their behalf…

… **.**

 **Author Note: I understand that this chapter is long overdue and probably a huge disappointment, especially considering how long it took. The exciting part still hasn't started, training will most likely take part in the next chapter. I just think this chapter is a little all over the place, does it make sense? It was written in different setting and I don't think it flows nicely.**

 **Anyway, I wanted to post this chapter to hopefully give myself the motivation I needed to continue this story since I have a lot planned. As for the long wait, it's just I guess I forgot about this story, my life's been pretty hectic lately, but I'll try to update more. I've also kind of lost interest, but I really do see potential in this story, so I will hopefully continue it.**

 **With that aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought! I will remind you that helpful criticism is more than welcomed.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Talking"

 **"Inner Talking"**

'Thinking'

 **'Inner'**

Flashback/past

... - they mean a page break but could also imply trailing off when used in speech

Word Count: 6,500

...

 **Chapter Nine**

...

"Got it!" Naruto shouted in excitement, jumping up and down, as he grew more and more excited to begin the exercise.

"Good" Kakashi drawled out "Now that everyone understands the concept of Chakra – which you should have already done back at the academy" at the sharp comment a glare was directed at a certain blonde, who seemed to sober up slightly at the look, choosing to rub his neck sheepishly with a grin instead of jumping. It wasn't exactly what Kakashi hoped but it would do he supposed.

"You can begin climbing!" at that three sharp – very sharp, dramatically sharper than her own, Sakura noted – Kunai pierced the soil in front of them. As soon as the weapons hit the ground, Kakashi was already giving the last instruction "Mark how high you can climb with the Kunai, to track your progress. Now go"

And with that, all two out of the three students rushed towards the tree. Naruto who had reached his tree first wasn't able to walk two steps up the tree before falling down, hitting his head in the process. Sasuke managed to climb a decent way up his tree, almost halfway up, before being propelled off, but not before slashing the tree to mark his spot.

Sakura on the other hand, who had decided to take her time walking towards and up the tree, was able to far exceed Sasuke's mark.

Somewhere along the time, Sakura passed the halfway mark, Naruto and Sasuke had taken notice of her fast progress, joining Kakashi as they watched her scale the tree with apparent ease.

However, before she could reach the top, which at the point was only a few steps away, something went wrong. Out of seemingly nowhere the chakra that she had been focusing on the soles of her feet began to give off a slight burning sensation. Images of the road leading to Konoha began to flash through her mind. She chooses to ignore the burning and the images, pushing the later off as being homesick, even though she knew it was far from the case. As for the burning sensation she didn't even ponder it, who knows, maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her. However, as much as she wanted to not think about it, the pain was becoming more apparent, and the images more… **familiar**.

' **Outer…maybe we should stop…'**

'Why?! We're almost there!'

However, just as she reached out to grab the trunk of the tree to pull herself up, she saw her parents. More specifically she saw her parents' bodies. Cold, motionless, bodies, that laid on the dirt ground in a pool of crimson. Long deep gashes covered their skin, their faces permanently twisted into an expression of pain. As if cued by the image the slight discomfort that had been building up over the past few minutes transformed into a searing pain, taking over her whole body in one go.

The agony didn't last long, though she couldn't find herself to be grateful as the source of the sudden halt of the pain was the loss of her concentration. After all, it was hard to concentrate when the surface you are standing on shatters.

Kakashi had sensed the sudden fluctuation of Sakura's steady flow of Chakra. He had seen how her face seemed to momentarily twitch in discomfort, how her once easy and fluid steps seemed to become forced. Yet he had done nothing, he had believed she had just experienced a momentary bump, after all, she had probably never used up this much chakra before. This exercise didn't require much chakra, in fact, it required a very minimal amount if done correctly, but to Sakura, who doesn't use chakra often, it probably took a lot out of her to climb the whole tree, it was a long tree after all.

Oh, how wrong he was…

Kakashi seemed to realize his mistake the moment he saw not brief discomfort displayed on his student's face, but suffering. The second warning came not a second later as her chakra flow seemed to spiral out of control, causing the tree under her to blow up.

Sasuke and Naruto were both frozen and could do nothing but watch with wide eyes, filled with panic and worry for their pink hair teammate. Sasuke snapped back to reality before Naruto and immediately began advancing towards his teammate, but it looked like his sensei had already beat him to it.

It was as though Kakashi had _appeared_ behind Sakura due to his speed, but at that time Sakura was already mid-air. If she wasn't in as much pain as she was, Sakura would actually be in awe at her sensei's speed, even while he was injured. Kakashi managed to pull his student out of harm's way and into his arms in the span of seconds, reappearing in the spot he had taken up earlier near another tree, with Sakura in his arms. Just as they landed on the ground, the wooden remains ripped through the spot in the air where Sakura once occupied.

"I swear, it's like injuries follow you" Kakashi muttered to Sakura, who he still carried in his arms bridal style. If she didn't feel like her feet were being sliced open, Sakura might have actually blushed, but at the moment she could do nothing but send him a sheepish grin in hopes of disguising her pain.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto shouted running towards the duo, Sasuke was behind him, moving in a slightly slower yet rushed pace nonetheless.

"Are you hurt?! Are you bleeding?! Do you want us to bring you to the doctor again?! Should I call him over instead?! Do you want so –"

Sakura wanted to smack the blonde, she really, **really** did, but she also couldn't help but find his actions and worry endearing. If it were anyone else she might have felt offended, she would wonder why they still stubbornly choose to see her in as defenseless, yet with Naruto, she saw his worry as affection and caring as opposed to him looking down on her. Not to mention, she had yet to do something to prove she was worth not looking down on. So far, the only thing she had done on this mission was get injured.

' **We protected Tazuna! You can't call that nothing!'**

It appeared her seemingly "brave" feat had managed to slip her mind.

'I guess you're right…but we still have a long way to go.'

' **Yeah, but we've already taken the first step. We – no,** _ **you**_ **shouldn't be too hard on yourself'**

"Your feet"

Looking at Sasuke - who surprisingly was the one to speak - in confusion, Sakura saw her teammates' faces twist in disgust, though Sasuke disguised it better than Naruto, who had run to a nearby bush and began puking out to contents of his stomach.

For a moment she felt lost, but she quickly remembered her injury once she caught a glimpse of what little remained of the tree.

'It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would…'

' **You're welcome'**

'You did this Inner?!'

' **Yup, and I'm not hearing a thank you'**

'How?'

' **Humph, it seems you've forgotten how much control I have over our brain.'**

'Inner, you've never been able to do something like this. The most you could do before was bring up small recent memories, like where I left my brush or something.'

' **I've been practicing'**

'With my brain!'

' **Our brain! But yes, I still can't hold back memories or anything like that…but I can hold back some of the pain, not all of it though but this injury isn't as bad as the one on your hands so I only had to hold a bit of the pain for it to be bearable for you but its still quite difficult…'**

'Thank you'

It seemed that without her noticing, Kakashi had set her down and began caring for her feet. From what she could see the injury was eerily similar to the one on her hands, just much more toned down. Her legs were covered in blood. Some of her skin was black and charred, other was hanging off her foot. Yet Kakashi did not bat a lash when treating her.

It wasn't long before Sakura could feel soothing chakra begin to enter her body, it seemed to numb whatever pain she felt in her feet.

With one hand still pushing healing chakra into his student's injury, Kakashi pulled his water can from where it was hooked around his belt, somehow managing to open the cap and pour the fluid over her feet with one hand. Sakura flinched even when she felt no pain, she was suddenly very glad Kakashi had decided to numb her injury before doing that.

It wasn't long before she sitting on the ground with now both her hands and feet fully bandaged.

' **Maybe we should give up on being a ninja – '**

Her inner's words sent her into a spiral of emotions. Hurt, betrayed, pathetic, sad, misery and despair, she felt it all. Had she really reached a point so low that a part of wasn't even willing to believe in her after all? Because that was, after all, what inner was. She was and will always be a literal part of her, and this part of her had given up hope. Was she really that pathetic and weak –

' **I think we're far more suited to become mummies'**

And just like that, all the negative emotions she felt seconds prior seemed to vanish her, leaving her feeling relief and anger – playful anger but anger nonetheless.

'Are you serious?! This is no time to be joking around!'

' **Come on, you can't lie to me, you found it funny as well!'**

And she did. Sasuke, Naruto -who had managed to recover from puking- and Kakashi could do nothing but watch, wide-eyed, as their teammate began to giggle at seemingly nothing in particular while being injured at that. Maybe she had finally lost it, they all knew that they were all going to lose their minds eventually - especially if they continued spending as much time together as they did now- but none of them expected Sakura to be the first to lose it, most had been betting on Sasuke, even Sakura herself.

Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't sure if she was laughing at Inner's lame joke or the image of Inner waving her eyebrows at her, she wasn't even sure if it was either of the two, and she certainly wasn't in a situation where she should be laughing but she knew she needed the laugh, so she choose not to dwell on it.

…

"Since then Inari's changed, so did Tsunami and all our people, we lost our will" Tazuna ended, tears now running down his cheeks. He had just told them the tragic story of a man he viewed as his son.

Sakura had gone through different emotional stages while hearing the story unfold, first she had felt admiration for the brave man, the anger and despair for the consequences of his brave actions, she felt like she had something in common with Inari, but in the end, she felt nothing. The only word she could possibly think to describe how she felt at the moment would be numb.

She felt numb.

With her head down, she stood up on wobbly legs, but before she could even take the first step she felt her wounds open up. Kakashi wasn't able to fully heal her wounds, especially with how low his chakra reserves were, so it was no surprise that the sudden pressure had disrupted the healing tissue, yet she couldn't care less at the moment, even when the blood began to pour out of the wound, dampening the bandage and pooling onto the floor.

"What are you doing Sakura?" Kakashi asked, irritation clear in his voice as he abruptly stood up as well, but Sakura ignored him, instead, walking towards the door that Inari and his mother had exited from.

"Sit down Sakura" Kakashi demanded, reaching out to grab her hand, but she shook her head and for a brief moment Kakashi was able to catch a glimpse of her face.

She looked broken.

Kakashi let his hands fall to his sides. He had never seen his pink haired student like that. She was always the normal and _sane_ person in their group. She came from an average background and had average powers - okay, maybe her strength wasn't average. She had typical, teenage girl ambitions and was sweet in her own way. However, the look on her face convinced Kakashi, for once and for all, that she wasn't the same girl he had known. He wasn't stupid, he had picked up on the strange and seemingly sudden change of behavior from his student but had always managed to deny them. There was no denying it now.

"Please don't follow me" she sounded tired and sad, it was something her teammates had never seen or heard from the girl. She wasn't as happy as Naruto, but she wasn't as broody as Sasuke, and she wasn't as sarcastic and easy going as Kakashi, but at the same time, she was all of that. She was the perfect mix, she was what made their team balanced.

Kakashi nodded his head even though he knew she wouldn't see him as she had her back turned to him. Without another word, Sakura left the room, leaving behind small puddles of blood.

It had taken her some torturous wondering, and she meant that in every literal sense, but Sakura had finally been able to find Inari. He was sitting on top of a desk in his room, or what she assumed to be his room, Sakura wasn't quite sure.

Without uttering a single word Sakura padded towards him, she guessed the light thud of her footsteps was overthrown by the sobs that racked his body, as he didn't turn around or indicate that he had taken notice of her presence.

Once she was close enough to him, Sakura wove her arms to tightly wrap around his smaller body, pulling him closer to her chest in a tight embrace. The boy seemed shocked at first. Fear that someone had snuck into their house ripped through him and he opened his mouth to scream but then he caught a glimpse of a strand of pink hair in his line of vision. Realization struck him, it was that pretty teammate of the hero-wannabe, in his eyes she was just as annoying as her blonde teammate, no matter how pretty she was.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!" he struggled, pushing against her roughly, trying desperately to escape her clutches.

"I miss them too" was the only reply he got, and for a moment he was confused but he quickly shook his head, immediately going back to pushing against the pinkette's surprisingly strong grip.

"What?! Are you crazy?! Let me go!" he repeated. Maybe he _should_ scream…

"My parents…I miss them too" He stilled, his whole body going rigid, as his mind slowly processed the meaning behind the pinkette's sudden confession.

"I-I don't know what you mean" he tried to deny it, but it seemed like Sakura wasn't having it.

As the pain in her feet became too much, Sakura took a spot next to Inari on the desk, momentarily fearing it may break as a cricking sound imitated as she sat down but in the end, she concluded it was sturdy enough…or at least she hoped it was.

"My parents were killed too" she muttered, now refusing to face the boy, who was currently looking up to her. "in front of me as well" she let her eyes stray across the room until they stopped to gaze out of the large window situated next to the bed. The moon seemed to glimmer from where it sat high in the sky, casting in erdescent light on the world below. Many preferred the moon over the sun, claiming the sun's light was too overpowering and obnoxious, while the moon was mysterious yet beautiful. Sakura liked both. She didn't favor one over the other, it had always been the sun and the moon to her.

' **The moon and the sun…those two fit the description perfectly, don't they?'**

Sakura nodded, two very important boys in her life coming to mind, but she quickly shooed those thoughts away. It wasn't the time.

"And now when I try to be brave it hurts, literally" she held out her hand, raising her feet as well as she let out a dry laugh, finding the irony of the whole situation to be laughable. Inari glanced at her injuries before looking down, suddenly feeling ashamed. Here he was crying his eyes out, when Sakura had gone through a similar situation was still trying to fight even when it physically hurt. She experienced the pain and went through it again and again even though she knew how much it hurt.

"We're a lot alike" Sakura stated, finally looking down to glance at the boy, but she couldn't do it for long for some reason, she found herself looking back at the moon not a minute later. "But for some reason, we turned out differently. You don't believe in heroes and say anyone who's being brave is an idiot and while I agree to some extent, I strive to be brave…even if it means being labeled as an idiot"

Inari had no idea what to say, or maybe it was just that he didn't really want to say anything, either way, Sakura seemed to get the hint, as she continued speaking.

"If I had to guess why we're so different, I'd say its because I had someone who kept me going, but you have that as well. You might not realize but you have one of the biggest heroes I've ever met right here in your house, right where he's always been"

Inari looked up, confusion swimming in his eyes as he looked up to the taller female, silently asking what she meant.

"Your grandfather. He's standing up to Gato in his own way" as much as Sakura wanted to throw the word "realistic" in there, she didn't think it would sit well with the boy. She admired Kaiza, she really did, but his methods of standing up to Gato were unrealistic and impractical, to say the least. While Tazuna was still at great risk every day, he didn't outright stand up against Gato's armed men, who were much stronger than him and anyone in this village. "I think you just haven't realized how much of a hero he is because you've been blinded by your sorrow"

'And mother'

Sakura certainly hadn't missed how the woman babied her son to the point of hiding things from him, the woman refused to even talk about her late husband with her son around. She never tried to correct his mindset, she just let him be, for fear of causing him more pain. Yet, Sakura couldn't be mad at the woman for trying to protect her son, Tsunami just had to recognize that her methods weren't doing her or her son any good.

"I-I – " the young boy stuttered, his tears beginning to leak from his eyes once again. Inari found himself at loss of words, he would have never thought his grandfather was brave – much less a hero. He hated the idea of someone close to him being a hero, was he going to lose his grandfather as well?

"You don't have to answer me. In my opinion those who die to try to protect what they believe in are the greatest of heroes and are always celebrated – I'm not saying Tazuna will die though" Sakura quickly cut herself off, rubbing her neck sheepishly as she realized what her words may imply "but even though you might think that no one thinks of Kaiza – " Sakura didn't miss the way the boy flinched at the mention of his late father's name but she choose to not mention it "but trust me they're all grateful for the fight he put up. You may think he lost, but he's part of the reason your grandfather's a hero now, he gave a lot of people hope and I can't describe to you how much admiration was in Tazuna's eyes when he spoke about him." Slowly, Sakura let her arms drop from around the boy, to be frank, she had forgotten she was still hugging him.

"I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but to be completely honest with you I'm – I'm not sure it does" Sakura spoke truthfully, she wanted to help the kid, but she didn't want to give him false hope. "to be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing here. I'm giving you this long speech and when I'm going through and _struggling_ with the same thing. I – "

Before Sakura could continue rambling on, the boy sitting next to her wrapped his small arms around her torso, pushing himself onto her lap, burying his face into her stomach, and sobbing into her shirt. Sakura could feel his tears – and most likely snot as well – wet her shirt, but she paid it little mind, instead, she wrapped her own arms around him pulling him deeper into the embrace.

Sakura had lost track of time somewhere after the stroke of midnight, but by that time Inari had long since lost consciousness and was now sleeping soundly on her lap, with his arms wrapped around her waist. As Sakura carefully wrapped her own fingers around Inari's hand, slowly trying to detach him from her, fully intending on letting him sleep on the much more comfortable futon nearby, she noticed that the boy refused to budge. If anything he tightened his hold on her. After a few more fruitless attempts, Sakura concluded that there would be no other way to get the kid off her than to wake him up and she wasn't very fond of the idea. So, she decided to suck up whatever discomfort she might have felt and get some rest herself.

Unknown to her, during her slumber five people had visited them, all of who didn't have the heart to wake up the two as well.

…

"Where's Sakura?" asked Tsunami, worry in her tone. The pink haired girl had found a place in her heart ever since that day when Inari's fa – Kaiza was mentioned. Tsunami had returned to her son's room after an hour or so after being yelled at to leave, she had thought her son would have calmed down by them, but she didn't expect the sight that awaited her.

Her son was hugging Sakura as if his life depended on it, sobbing as he muttered again and again about how much he missed his dad. Tsunami felt grateful for the pinkette, her son had been adamant about never speaking of his father ever since that day, yet here he was confessing about how much he missed him to practically a stranger. In some ways, Tsunami envied the girl, she was Inari's mother, he should be opening up to her if anyone, yet that night she realized, that she wasn't exactly pushing her son to open up in the first place.

"She's out training" Kakashi answered, obviously not happy with the fact. Inari, who also sat at the table along with Sasuke, Tsunami, Kakashi, and Tazuna, looked down. Sakura was always out training even when it hurt her physically.

"Why is she even trying to be brave? She only hurting herself" he asked, yet as opposed to how he spoke about Naruto, his tone, in contrast to his words, was that of admiration.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, neglecting his food in favor of looking at the younger boy in question.

Inari opened his mouth to speak but suddenly remembered the words the pinkette had spoken to him the next day after their conversation.

" _Hey, Inari Kun" Sakura called out to the younger boy, who despite just waking up, refused to leave her side._

" _Yes, Sakura ch-chan?" he answered, blushing slightly, the suffix was still new to him, but Sakura seemed to beam when he used it. He liked seeing Sakura smile. She had a pretty smile after all._

" _Don't tell anyone what I told you last night, about my parents I mean, okay?" she requested, a dazzling smile on her lips. It was so beautiful that Inari merely nodded to her request, choosing not to question the seemingly suspicious request and just focus on trying to fight back the heat rushing to his cheeks._

"Nothing" he muttered, immediately picking up his fork and shoving food into his mouth to avoid the conversation.

A few moments of awkward silence ticked by, before someone stood up from the table. Inari watched as Sasuke stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" Kakashi asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I'm going for a walk" was the only reply they received from the boy, but by now they had all learned to not expect much from the boy in terms of opening up, so his "reply" came as no shock.

…

Sakura felt her chest rise and fall erratically, just like her breath pattern. She was exhausted, her body covered in a layer of sweat and she was pretty sure she smelt worse than Naruto's apartment. She was leaning against a tree, small puddles of blood pooling around both her hands and her feet, which by now both felt numb, it seems like she burned through her nerves by now. Her eyelids felt droopy but she fought against the overwhelming need to sleep. She knew that if she fell into slumber, even if for just a little while, she would be letting down her guard, she'd be allowing her mind to stray, and whenever it could, her mind always seemed to go back to her parents, which was something she couldn't handle at the moment.

As she slammed her back against the tree truck for what felt like the hundredth time, trying desperately to wake herself up. Her ears twitched as she managed to catch the sound of a twig snapping. Her blood ran cold and she stiffened. Slowly she looked up and she felt her jaw drop at the sight in front of her.

In the middle of the field stood a beautiful girl. She had long, waist length, silky black hair, that even with years of hair care Sakura still wasn't able to achieve, but she had been neglecting her skin and hair care the past month, so she really shouldn't be complaining. Her eyes were wide and doe-like, and her skin fair and unblemished. Her beauty was truly ethereal, so it was no surprise that Sakura could do nothing but look at what she thought to be an angel with awe filled eyes and a jaw wide open.

' **Is she an angel? Have we died and gone to heaven? Is she here to collect us?'**

'I'm pretty sure you're right about the angel part, but I'm not so sure about the other things…'

"Oh god! You're bleeding!" the young lady exclaimed, worry and concern dripping from her voice, yet for some reason Sakura couldn't help but think it sounded fake…This was all Zabuza's fault! He was making her paranoid! Stupid missing-nin having to come back from the dead...

"I'm fine…" Sakura muttered, still not quite over the girl's beauty.

"You don't look fine" the girl rebutted, leaving Sakura speechless and still gaping like an idiot.

"W-well appearances can be deceiving" Sakura finally managed to say, "you know what they say "don't judge a book by its cover" Maybe I haven't slept for a while or I just sweat easily. What makes you think I'm inj –"

"You're sitting a pool of your own blood" the girl shot back, her tone flat but amusement dancing in her eyes. Sakura quickly caught on, blushing as she forgot about something so conspicuous. Wow, maybe she really was becoming an idiot. Is idiocy contagious? If so, then maybe she shouldn't be spending as much time with her teammates…

Sakura only looked up when she heard the girl walk towards her, yet before she knew it the girl was crouched beside her.

'Wow she's even more beautiful up close'

' **SHE'S AN ANGEL I TELL YOU!'**

The ange – sorry _girl_ , Sakura has yet to know the name of, reached for her hand, causing Sakura to flinch back. Pulling her hand from where it once rested on the crimson-stained ground to her chest, Sakura dully noted how blood dripped from her bandaged hand, it seemed like the bandages couldn't absorb any more of the blood, speaking of bandages hers had already turned red.

"I'm just trying to help" the girl said, holding her hand out patiently.

Sakura hesitated for a minute but ultimately decided to put her hand into that of the girl's. She didn't exactly think the girl was genuine with her concern, but it did look like she wanted to help her, besides she really didn't want Kakashi to see her like this, he'd probably throw a fit again and then try to band her training or something.

The girl offered an encouraging smile and Sakura swore the whole world stopped.

'I've never seen someone so beautiful...'

 **'Dang, d-do you think she can beat out Sasuke in terms of looks?'**

'And personality, and grace, and social skills and manne -'

 **'What the heck?! Why are you saying that about my future husband?!'**

'Future husband?'

 **'Yeah...hasn't marrying Sasuke been our dream since forever?'**

'...yeah'

Almost an hour ticked by before Haku – as Sakura learned the girl's name was – finished rebandaging her wounds, with some of her bandages she happened to be carrying in a basket she brought with her. When Sakura had inquired, Haku had claimed she carried spare bandages with her all the time, as her father was sick and wounded. It was also the excuse she used when she seemed so nonchalant about the "unpleasant" sight of Sakura's injuries as well. It didn't quite make sense, why would she take bandages with her in the forest? Surely her father wouldn't need them there, also the girl didn't even flinch when she saw her injury, which Naruto had puked upon seeing, and that was only her foot, which was less severe than that of her hand – which Haku had also seen. Nonetheless, Sakura choose not the ask, she was just grateful the girl hadn't tried to kill her.

"What were you doing anyway?" Haku asked as she tightened the bandage on her left foot.

"Training" Sakura answered simply after all Haku had probably already seen her headband and the Kunai that pierced multiple spots on the ground were a dead giveaway.

"You're a ninja?" Haku asked in surprise, Sakura was now sure that Haku was pretending to be an innocent civilian just passing by. The more Sakura contemplated the situation the more she grew convinced with the idea that Haku was not only a ninja but she's probably also working for Gato or maybe even Zabuza, why else would she need to hide from her? Besides she fit the description Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna had given her of the tracker nin that picked up Zabuza's body pretty well.

Sakura felt fear shoot throughout her body, for a second her hand twitched towards the direction of her Kunai pouch but she stopped herself. If Haku had any intentions to kill her she would have done it by now, besides she wouldn't have helped her as well. By revealing that she knew she worked for her enemy Sakura might be giving her the reason she needed to kill her.

"What kind of training? It looks dangerous"

Sakura smiled and weirdly enough it came easily. Despite being her enemy, Haku was surprisingly easy to talk to. "Chakra control" she answered, why not? She had already revealed she was a ninja, why lie now?

"Well you don't look good at it" Haku commented.

"I'd like to see you try!" Sakura gave Haku a playful shove, putting on the best dramatic offended look she could pull off, which earned her a surprisingly deep laugh from her companion. She was exhausted, but she couldn't help but want to be playful and make the other laugh.

"I think she's that way!" it was distant, but even then Sakura was able to identify that voice as Naruto's. She didn't know anyone with a voice that obnoxiously loud except Naruto, after all, she could clearly make out what he was saying even with an obvious distance between them.

As she saw Haku stiffen, Sakura let her hand land on her lap reassuringly "that's my teammate, he's probably looking for me" she couldn't help but feel warm at the notion of her teammate looking for her. It felt good to know how much the blonde cared for her, she just wished she'd be able to express her affection to the blonde just as he did to her.

Haku nodded in understanding before getting up "I should get going now, I can't keep my father waiting" with that Haku picked up the basket and began heading in the direction he came from, but he suddenly stopped. Looking at the pinkette from over her shoulder, Haku said a few words that left Sakura back to looking at her – him with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"Oh and I'm a boy"

' **Oh no she – he didn't!'**

Inner was able to take over her body but only for a short while and it always took so much energy out of her, so she rarely ever did it. So, Sakura was surprised, to say the least when her mouth seemed to open on it own, and words she had never meant to speak poured out.

" **You're also a ninja, right? How's Zabuza doing by the way?"** Sakura blurted out, momentarily losing control of her body.

'You idiot! Why would you do that?! We're so dead!'

Haku frozen, swiftly turning around to face the girl. For the first time since she had met Haku, Sakura saw emotions clearly displayed on his feature, genuine emotions that was, and for the first time as well Haku was left gaping at Sakura instead of the other way around.

"Sakura!" came the obnoxious shout once again, but this time it sounded much nearer.

Haku seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning back around and continuing to walk away.

' **See! She – HE didn't kill us!'**

Just before Haku disappeared from her sight, Sakura couldn't help but shout the following words to his retreating figure.

"I hope we don't meet in battle Haku!"

Over the short span of their meeting Sakura had grown fond of Haku, she really hoped she wouldn't have to be pitted against him in battle. However, Sakura knew it was no one's fault but her own, she should have never accepted his help, she should have never tried to be playful, she should have just run away or something, especially once she figured out he was an alley of Zabuza's. Yet she hadn't and there was no one to blame but herself.

Haku's reply was a whisper at best, but somehow it still reached her ears.

"As do I"

...

Author: Finally an update! For those who are confused as to why inner sometimes say 'ours' and other times says 'yours' when speaking with Sakura. Sakura's mental domain belongs to both Sakura (Outer) and Inner. While the physical part belongs only to Sakura (Outer) and that is because any physical pain Sakura may receive Inner will not be affected by, she'll be able to numb the pain sensors for to lessen Sakura's (Outer's) pain but in reality, Inner feels absolutely no pain. Pain inflicted mentally, however, affects both Sakura (Outer) and Inner.

Also for those who might be upset about the fact that in this chapter Sakura wasn't as "badass " as you might have wanted her to be, I would just like to say that I wanted to show more of what she was going through and show a valunrable side of her, and in my opinion that would make her even more badass. Besides even the strongest of people (as this anime has portrayed) have vulnerable times and Sakura is certainly not invincible

I didn't include the story of Inari's father but if you want to know then basically Inari's father was a brave man who tried to stand up against Gato but got executed in front of the whole village.

I know this is completely unrelated but Sakura fangirling about Haku is literally me with kpop stars…especially with Kim Taehyung, which you may or may not know, actually you most likely know or have at least heard of, if not then…are you living under a rock? Sorry…was that rude? I didn't intend it to be...

The meeting with Haku did not turn out like I expected it to, I originally planned for her break down and confess everything about her parents but that's not how it went down, besides the whole thing with Inari was enough…right?

Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter (even though I feel for some reason my writing was different -not in a good way- in this chapter...) and as always helpful criticism is always welcomed!


	10. Chapter 10

"Talking"

 **"Inner Talking"**

'Thinking'

 **'Inner'**

 _Flashback_

... - page break (could also imply trailing off when used in speech)

Word Count: 3,549

...

 _ **Chapter Ten**_

Sakura let her jade eyes drop to the grass-covered floor. The situation that had just taken place seemed surreal to her. She had just shared a light-hearted, if not even playful, conversation with a person she suspected to be an alley of one of the most dangerous opponents she had ever faced, who she was willing to bet would come for another round. What made it all the more difficult to comprehend, was that she actually enjoyed the talk she had shared with the beautiful male. It was as if her mind failed to fully process the events that had unfolded.

Yet, for some reason, she didn't want it to.

She knew she was just running away from the truth. She was also aware of the fact that it would catch up to her later. She would most likely have to stand on a battlefield with Haku soon, and there was a very slim chance that they would be on friendly terms then. As much as she'd try to deny it, Sakura always ran away in the end.

Sure, she's managed to put on a brave-faced against Zabuza, and she has improved – even if just by a little – strength wise, but whenever she was faced with something she'd rather not accept, she doesn't. Instead, she runs away. However, facing Haku in battle wasn't the only thing she was running away

She knew everything. She'd taken notice of how she'd recently gotten into the habit of constantly being around people, whether it was by being with her team or in a busy restaurant. The silence and space she once used to yearn for, now became a constant fear of hers. She'd figured out that being surrounded by people was her coping mechanism. It was the only way she could prevent her thoughts from straying to places she'd rather not think about.

She knew it all, but like many things these days, she chooses to push it to the deepest, darkest parts of her mind.

Yet, as much as she hated the fact, there wasn't always someone with her. There were times where she was left alone, with nothing but her dark thoughts to keep her company, and her current situation was the perfect example.

Lucky for her, a distraction arrived just in the nick of time. A distraction by the name of Naruto Uzumaki. Before she knew it, the blonde had bolted from the spot he had just emerged from at the very end of the field, arriving beside her in an instant.

"Sakura-chan! We've finally found you!" the blonde exclaimed, throwing his arms around her and pulling her in for a tight hug, rambling about how much he had missed her and how they had been searching everywhere for her.

'He just saw us yesterday, didn't he?'

'What can I say, he's obsessed with us! And for good reason'

Ever since Sakura had started…choosing her words wisely when addressing Naruto and had toned down the physical abuse, Naruto became a lot touchier, even more than he was before, which in itself was a feat. Sakura didn't particularly mind, she quite enjoyed the physical contact, but it seemed her Sensei and other teammate had something against public show of affection. They'd glared at them when Naruto simply held her hand -which has become a regular occurrence. It was rare to find a time when Naruto wasn't holding her hand, though, on those few occasions, she was the one to initiate the hand holding. On those days Sasuke and Kakashi seemed particularly upset, did they hate it even more because they thought it was wrong for a woman to initiate something like handholding? That was plain sexist. However, Sakura kept doing it, the bright grin that immediately took over Naruto' whole expression was enough for her to overlook her teammates' discomfort.

"Hn"

Oh look, there was another distraction!

"Sasuke?" Sakura muttered, confusion the jade pools of her eyes. She certainly hadn't expected the aloof Uchiha to come out of his way to search for her, then again, Kakashi had probably forced him to. Speaking of her silver-haired sensei, where was he? To be frank, she expected her perverted sensei to be the first to show up…

'Is that disappointment I sense?'

Sakura opted not to reply to her Inner's words, her excuse being that she should stop talking to her split personality if she wanted to keep even a shred of what was left of her sanity.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura hadn't meant for the suspicion in her voice to be as potent as it was. She couldn't help the guilt that swelled up in her chest as she caught a glimpse of her usually stone-faced teammate flinch before quickly composing himself.

She had to remind herself, as aloof, unforgiving, cold, emotionless, cold-hearted, stone-faced, unfeeling, unsympathetic –

'Are you going somewhere with this?'

Point was, Sasuke was still human - deep, deep, deep down – and as hard as it may be to believe this, just like any other human he had a vulnerable, beating heart.

"You forgot breakfast, you idiot" the statement held little emotion if any, it was even accompanied with an insult but for some reason it made Sakura's heart skip a beat, but not in the way it did back in the academy or even just a few months ago, when Sasuke's eyes would land on her, even if it were for a mere second…or in the form of a glare, it didn't make a difference to her back then. She even tried to convince herself that Sasuke looks at everything with a glare, it was just his natural gaze, and to be honest, the more she observed Sasuke the easier it became to believe it. It was the kind of feeling she got when Naruto would wait for her after breakfast to get some ramen. The same feeling she got when Kakashi worried over a little scratch she got, as much as she would deny it Sakura liked how easily worried Kakashi got. The more she thought about it, the more it reminded her of her mo –

"Sorry," Sakura suddenly blurted out, immediately cutting off her train of thought. She brought her hand to the back of her neck, sheepishly scratching at the back of her head, though she soon stopped as she felt the tremendous pain the came with the simple movement of her hand. "I guess I was a little preoccupied" she mumbled, pulling herself off the ground, deciding to use her elbows to push herself up instead of her hands, as awkward as the position looked she knew it would be significantly less painful that if she were to do it with her hands. As she finally stood on both feet, she felt the blood beginning to seep again, she was getting pretty tired of seeing blood painting the ground every time she walked.

"Nothing should distract you from your health Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, his facial features set into a hard expression, as he waved his finger, as he chastised his teammate. Yet Sakura couldn't find it in herself to take the blonde seriously at the moment, his shinning, playful blue eyes made it difficult to have faith in the fact that he was being serious. Not the mention, the fact that he really isn't one to talk about taking care of one's health. The boy practically lived off of instant ramen cups!

'Maybe we should change that.'

What started off as a few chuckles soon erupted into roaring laughter. Sakura burst into piles of laughter, falling onto the ground with the force of her giggling. For a few minutes, both Sasuke and Naruto watched their teammate laughing hysterically on the grass, with expressions of confusion and slight worry for their teammate's sanity etched into their faces. Yet soon enough, Naruto joined Sakura. At first, he only had to support himself with his arms resting on his knees but before long he was beside Sakura, rolling on the green grass and clutching his stomach as he desperately tried to catch his breath in-between bursts of laughter.

Sasuke did nothing but watch at first, but then a small, almost none-existing smile tugged on his lips. Minutes later, what most would view to be the impossible happened, Sasuke was chuckling, sure it was nothing compared to Naruto and Sakura. His laughter was soft, muffled between his hand which he immediately clamped over his mouth at the signs of a smile, he had even turned away from the two, who in any case, were too engaged in their own glee to notice his own.

If anyone were to stumble upon this sight, they certainly wouldn't think twice before labeling the three off as lunatics, and honestly, Sakura wouldn't blame them. They were – after all – three – yup Sasuke may think she hadn't noticed, but nothing escapes her all-seeing eyes – teenagers laughing as if there was no tomorrow, in the middle of a forest, which was located in practically nowhere. It definitely wasn't the most common of sights, but at that moment, Sakura felt true happiness. The kind she hadn't been able to reach for months. They didn't even know what they were laughing about!

Maybe her team really were the perfect distractions for her.

…

"Now they're all late" Tsunami noted worriedly, setting down a plate of grilled fish in front of Kakashi while eyeing him, in what she believed to be a discreet manner. She couldn't believe this man was so relaxed while his students were in the middle of a forest at night most likely killing themselves with nonstop practice!

Just as Tsunami was about to give in to the worry gnawing at her conscious and demanded that the seemingly relaxed Sensei go retrieve his student – however, unbeknown to her, Kakashi was already looking over his student, through a shadow clone – the rickety door was slammed open, which wasn't the wisest of ideas, considering how it appeared ready to fall off its hinges at any given moment.

And there, at the now open doorway, stood three, exhausted yet satisfied, Gunnin. One student in particular also looked irritated, but the wave family had already established at that time that irritation seemed to be a fixed look for the Uchiha that is when he didn't have a completely emotionless mask on. However, as certain silver-haired Junnin immediately took notice and found great amusement at how a tick mark seemed to appear on his forehead as he gazed at his teammates. Though, as much as he could try to deny it, Kakashi couldn't help but share a bit of his irritation.

On the left side stood Sasuke, his arms crossed and glaring and his blonde and pink haired teammates. Scratches and scars littered his body, but overall, he seemed fine, the same could be said for the blonde of the group, Naruto, who stood on Sasuke's right.

Now, you must be wondering where Sakura stood, right?

On the very right?

On the very left?

In the middle?

In front?'

Behind?

If any of those were similar to what you were thinking, then I regret to inform, you are sorely mistaken. Sakura, in fact, was not even standing. She was being carried on Naruto's back.

"Hey, Sasuke Kun!" Sakura called out, running to join the male that didn't even bother to turn around and face her. Her legs screamed as she forced herself to move quicker in order to keep up with her stiff teammate, leaving Naruto behind.

Sakura hadn't a single clue, what compelled her to say the following words. Maybe the satisfaction of finally completing that exercise had given her some kind of high? Maybe it was the want for a distraction? Sakura wasn't completely sure, but that didn't seem to stop her.

"How about you give me a piggy back ride?"

It was a childish request, and the slightly whiny tone in her voice and the pout she used didn't seem to lower from the immature nature the request seemed to exude.

Sasuke froze for a moment, the thought lingering in his mind for a moment longer than it should have. His muscles tensed up, and his fast steps flattered, but he quickly willed himself to continue, scoffing at the pinkette.

Sakura flinched back slightly as she processed what she had asked for. Her relationship with Sasuke had only recently been reaching a level where he could at least tolerate her presence. Well, he didn't immediately abandon the mist village's market when he has seen her there – as he had done long ago when they bumped into each other in a restaurant back in the Leaf village – he had even walked back to Tazuna's house with her, well a few feet away from her, but they were taking the same road nonetheless.

'We were heading to the same location…'

'…I like the idea of Sasuke following us because he was worried for us more…'

'Well I don't, I thought we agreed that we weren't going to be the damsel in distress anymore Inner. The first step in believing we're strong is acknowledging we have the "potential" and we aren't exactly doing that by wishing some guy was following us home to make sure we didn't get hurt.'

'But Sasuke-Kun isn't just "some guy" …'

'…'

'So, what are you proposing? We give up on our love for Sasuke-Kun?!'

'…no'

'Then what?'

'Maybe we can just tone it down a bit...just for the time being, just until we get strong'

'…I guess you're right'

'And this applies to all other guys as well!'

'WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!'

'Come on Inner, we have to make sacrifices if we want to get stronger.'

'Haven't you made enough sacrifices?'

'…'

'I'm sorry…and fine'

'Trust me Inner, we are stronger in no time'

'I mean, I bet that Sasuke will tolerate nothing less than a strong spouse'

'INNER!'

"Why don't I give you a piggyback ride Sakura-chan?!" Naruto inquired excitedly as he ran towards her, throwing his arm casually around her neck. His is pools of blue shined with unhidden enthusiasm, and affection, something that had Sakura's face flushing and causing her to take a few steps away from the blonde, hoping that by putting some distance between then she would be able to calm down her suddenly red face.

"Oh no, you don't have to you idiot" Sakura insisted, the playful insult coming out on its own accord. Sakura flinched, it was obvious that she had intended for the word to be playful and she was pretty sure Naruto wasn't affected by this kind of stuff and probably took it just as light-heartedly as she had intended to put it if not more. However, she still felt guilty. She didn't want to be one of the people that took advantage of Naruto's kindness. She didn't know if she could live with herself knowing she had taken advantage of the poor boy's kind heart.

While mentally scolding herself for the foolish slip of the tongue, Sakura caught a glance of the blonde. He looked as if he wanted to protest but it appeared as if some kind of realization set upon him, as he suddenly seemed to lose hope, clumping his lips shut in a tight line and casting his head downward.

'What did you expect idiot? She asked Sasuke not you…'

This one of the rare moments that Sakura had ever seen Naruto appear discouraged. It was safe to say she hated the sight.

"You know what?" Sakura trailed off, kicking the sand below her feet and looking everywhere but Naruto, trying to look as inconspicuous and innocent as possible. "I do feel tired. I might take you up on that offer after all?"

The aura of sadness and depression that had seemed to set over Naruto vanished in an instant, making Sakura question if he had even felt sad, to begin with, or if it were all an act, to begin with, but she didn't have much time to dwell on it as Naruto had appeared in front of her instantly, crouching down in front of her with his back to her and gesturing excitedly for her to hop on.

'I could have sworn he had a rain cloud over his head a moment ago'

'…Don't question it, it's easier that way

Shrugging, Sakura decided to take her inner's advice, she really didn't need a headache right now. Slowly, she brought her hands to wrap around Naruto's neck, somehow missing how Sasuke also halted in his tracks and was watching them with narrow eyes.

"Before I do this, I must warn you, I've been eating an awful lot lately" Sakura exclaimed. It was a plain lie and everyone in the group knew it. Sakura had been eating a significantly lesser amount of food ever since she had arrived at the wave, even before that. The team hadn't a clue why, it didn't seem like one of those diet plans she used to follow religiously, she'd always proudly mention if she was dieting. Yet, this time she never outright refused the food. She'd accept it then sneakily dump onto someone else's plate. She always tried to change the subject when some insisted she ate. Sometimes it seemed like she didn't even realize what she was doing, but her team sure as hell did. And they didn't like it one bit.

In the midst of his excitement – which Sakura has yet to understand why he was so excited, he was just going to carry her on his back, it sounded more like a chore than something fun – Naruto merely shook his head, letting out a few sounds of disagreement before beckoning her to climb on his back, which Sakura did.

Jumping on the orange-clad boy's back, Sakura could honestly admit she was surprised when the boy jumped onto his feet and began running, passing Sasuke – who seemed to be frozen in his spot with a killer aura around him for some reason – in record time.

'Are we really that light?'

'You don't sound so happy…'

'It means we don't eat enough! We need to eat if we want to get stronger!'

'…you sound like Naruto and Sasuke'

Sakura shuddered at the thought, she loved the male members of team seven, she truly did, but she'd rather not be compared to those two numbskulls intelligence wise. However, her goal was to be on the same level as them strength and power wise. Or maybe even beyond them…

Upon stepping foot in the cramped house, Naruto seemed to lose his footing, stumbling and eventually plummeting to the floor. Since she was still one Naruto's back when he fell, Sakura ended up falling on top of him, in a very suggestive position.

As Naruto lay on his back on the worn-out wooden floor, Sakura sat on his stomach straddling him, with her hands sprawled over his chest. It took a few minutes for both of them to realize what kind of position they were in. They both flushed red, and Sakura was about to jump off the blonde but it seemed she had taken too long, that or a certain Uchiha was too impatient and REALLY didn't like public display of affection.

Sakura got ready to push herself up only to feel a hand wrap around the back of her shirt pulling her up by the garment but somehow managing not to strangle her. In a matter of seconds, Sakura found herself standing beside her long-time crush, wondering if she really was so light that teammate can pull her up like a freaking rag doll.

…

Author note: This chapter was more on the short and uneventful side. I just thought you guys, as the readers, might appreciate a deviation from the constant adventures and might enjoy a bit of "fluff" this is a MultiSaku after all.

I know I'm not making much progress with posting on a somewhat constant schedule and my updates have become slower but I'm trying my best with all the things I'm currently juggling. I hope you can understand.

Am I making inner interject too much? Cause I feel that it's making the story lean towards the informal side, though I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to update the eleventh chapter soon (no promises though) and it'll hopefully be the beginning of the fight with Zabuza! Also, helpful criticism is always appreciated!


	11. Chapter 11

Keys:-

"Talking"

'Thinking'

 **'Inner talking with Sakura - only in her head'**

 _Emphasise_

 **Said in Malice/Hostility (usually** )

 _More than one word written in italics (like so) indicates a flashback._

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

A puff of air escaped her parted lips, her hooded eyes focused on the boy laying in front of her, boredom shinning in her green orbs. Sakura was desperately fighting the urge to fall into the inviting embrace of darkness and give in to the temptations of sleep. She knew fully well that peaceful slumber would not be the outcome of a choice like that, and she'd rather not have her roommate waking up to her sweating, panting, and sobbing as she tries to calm herself from another horrifyingly vivid "nightmare".

 **'Speaking of which, we're almost out of sleeping pills...'**

Humming in response to her Inner's reminder, Sakura let her eyes study the features of her sleeping blonde teammate. Idly, she matched her shallow breaths to his loud snoring, finding that to be the most interesting and engaging activity at the moment.

She didn't really want to leave the room since that would defeat the purpose of staying behind in the first place. As naive as it may sound, she didn't want Naruto to feel left behind.

It may sound self-centered to say this, especially with what everyone else in her team has gone through, but she's always experienced being left behind and abandoned. She's come to learn that even with knowing that they only left her behind for good reason - because they worried about her safety - it didn't lessen the pain.

These days though, she's experienced far greater pains.

However, the more she thought about it, the more evident the mental effect of always been left became clearer. She had been less enthusiastic about taking part in any exercise fearing she'd be a burden to others. She had begun to view herself as a damsel in distress a long time ago, patiently waiting for her Prince Charming. Heck, she'd even walk behind everyone else in the team, though she always hid the obvious signs of low self-esteem from even herself behind the excuse that she'd have a better view of Sasuke from behind without looking too creepy or getting caught staring.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Her eyes snapped open and her body straightened, immediately falling from its huddled up position. Her lips pursed and her eyes hardened for a spilled-second, yet it was long enough for Naruto to catch it.

"Sakura-Chan?" He called out again, this time he lowered his voice and his words were laced with confusion, concern, and worry.

The tension in her shoulders melted away, and she slumped forward, the corners of her lips quirking upwards as she spoke in the most reassuring tone she could muster.

"Naruto-Kun! Great! You're awake! Go get ready, we need to catch up with the rest of the team!" Her words were rushed and dripped in fake enthusiasm, yet even if Naruto had noticed he wasn't given enough time to point it out as he was quickly rushed to the bathroom, a towel thrown over his face before the door was slammed shut, leaving him to blink dumbly on the other side as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Truth be told, Sakura didn't have a clue as to why she had reacted the way she did, maybe she was just caught off guard. Either way, her jumpy behavior was surely only going to direct more concerned eyes her way, especially if Naruto decides to inform the rest of the team...

'Let's not worry about it now. What's done is done.'

Right, she can't really alter the past...no matter how much she wished she could...

"I better get my things ready..." she trailed off as she let her eyes scan the room, looking for her bag.

However, her eye caught something far more interesting.

Dropping to her knees quietly, Sakura carefully crawled over to the window, making sure her head was close to the floor as she did, so no one could see her through the window.

As she reached the window she raised her head, quickly peaking above the edge of the window before pulling herself back down. It was only for a split second, but she did see two figures, yet due to the limited time she had, she wasn't able to make out anything involving them.

She contemplated reaching her head out once more but decided against it, the last thing she needed was a potential enemy spotting her. So, instead, she pulled out two Kunais, resolving to use it as a mirror of sorts. For once she was glad for the hours she wasted in the past cleaning and polishing her Kunai because she wanted them to look "pretty"…

With a quick flick of her wrist, the dagger flew out of her hand and implanted itself on the top half of the window casing, so it was just out of view from the bandits. Pushing aside the rush of satisfaction she felt for her improved aim due to the relentless hours spent training, Sakura quickly adjusted the second Kunai in her hand, and although the reflection was weak, she could still see the two figures. She could also vaguely make out two larger swords strapped on both of their backs, and that was all she needed to see.

Just as she was about to change the angle of the Kunai once again (in hopes of gaining a better view) she heard mumbling; it was too far away to make out anything though.

'Maybe we can increase our hearing range by inserting chakra - '

 **'DO YOU LITERALLY WANT TO START A FIRE IN YOUR HEAD?!'**

'I just wasn't emotional stable at the time...'

 **'And you are now? We both know that's a lie.'**

'I'm doing it.'

 **'ARE YOU - '**

Drowning out Inner's voice Sakura slowly started to pour small amounts of chakra into her ear. With every small dose of chakra, she inserted her hearing gradually became stronger. Soon, the sound of the water from Naruto's shower became more prominent and not just another background noise. It felt like birds were literally screeching in her ear, squirrels' light tapping became thundering footstep in her mind, it all quickly became overwhelming, there was no way she'd be able to make out what the two she had seen were saying amidst all this noise...

 **'Focus on the two figures, finding them through their chakra might help.'**

'I knew you'd come around!'

' **Don't get too happy I just don't want to end up dying because due to a blown up head.'**

Despite Inner's choice of words, Sakura couldn't stop the pull of a smile on her lips.

Following Inner's advice, Sakura found herself looking for two unfamiliar chakra sources. There weren't any human chakra sources outside the house, but there were two new chakra sources in the living room, almost directly under her.

'They must have gotten inside...'

Focusing on the two chakra signals Sakura slowly began to drown out all other sounds, pouring her attention into those two figures.

"Didn't Gato say that that old geezer has a grandson or something as well?"

' **Gato? Isn't that the money-grubbing geezer that's trying to kill Tazuna'**

Another person spoke up, yet Sakura couldn't discern what was being said by that voice since she had been pouring all her focus on the other two.

"...stay down woman, or I'll mess up that pretty little face of yours."

Even as they threatened the 'woman' the two kept their voice relatively low. They were being cautious.

' **Woman? Are they talking to Tsunami?'**

'Has to be. Since Gato's doing those now, he's probably confident that the members of Team 7 would be occupied today...'

' **Occupied? With what?'**

'Zabuza''

Cursing under her breath, Sakura stood up. Hurriedly, she gathered up all of Naruto's weapon pouches and everything else he would need to go out. After doing so, she rushed for the bathroom preparing to knock as quietly as possible on the wooden door. However, before she could that the door slammed open and Naruto walked out, only to stop abruptly, inches from colliding with her form.

His blonde hair was wet, glistening as it fell flat against his scalp as opposed to his usual spiked up, go to hairstyle. His eyes bright and rejuvenated, any hint of grogginess unable to be seen. His skin shimmered with the remnants of water, a few stubborn drops of water sticking to his lashes. He wasn't completely naked, luckily -

 **'I don't agree with that...'**

But it is important to note that he wasn't wearing a shirt…

 **'Has Naruto always been this fit?!'**

"Sa-Sakura chan?!"

Blinking slowly, Sakura felt heat exploding in her face as she finally processed just how close she was to her teammate. With an embarrassing yelp, that she'd rather not acknowledge, Sakura jumped back, putting some distance between her and her male teammate.

"Em...erm..uh..."

 **'I think you're drooling...'.**

"Yeah!" the pinkette exclaimed suddenly, startling the blonde as she suddenly whirled around on her heels. Her hand unconsciously coming to whip her mouth. "You need to go!"

Rushing to where she had placed Naruto's packed bag, Sakura quickly snatched the bag, stopping only to grab him a shirt as well as his signature orange jacket. Grabbing his arm, Sakura dragged Naruto with her down the painstakingly creaky stairs to the back door. She turned around to face him only to find Naruto staring at their connected hands with dazed eyes and pink cheeks. As much as she wanted to roll her eyes at the sight, she found it to be endearing. She also shouldn't be judging him when her cheeks were slightly tinted as well, however, please take into account that he is still shirtless - something she would refuse to take the blame for…

Ripping her eyes away from her friend's toned stomach, Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she finally spotted the splotches of blood behind Naruto, leading all the way upstairs. Looking down, she finally noticed that the wounds on her feet had opened once again and her white bandages had turned blood red.

"Sakura-chan are you alright?" Naruto asked, snapping her out of inner plotting. He was looking at her face instead of her injuries, he must have not yet noticed. "You seem scared? Don't worry! Whatever it is I can protect you!"

Whatever part of her contemplated the idea of asking Naruto for help flew out of the window. She understood that he was just trying to be sweet and make her feel at ease but damn, that boy just didn't seem to understand that she needs to learn to carry her own weight or that she had pride, which took a hit every time he took an oath to protect her like she was some damsel in distress.

"I'm fine!" she exclaimed, fake enthusiasm dripping from her voice. With a forced smile glued to her lips, she continued. "But you need to go find the rest of the team; I have a feeling they might be in trouble."

By now, Sakura was almost certain that Zabuza would decide to face Team 7 for a rematch today, more specifically right now. The men must be Gato's, he probably wanted to take some hostages just in case Zabuza wasn't able to fulfill his mission.

' **What are you saying?'**

'If Zabuza fails again, Gato would already have the means necessary to get Tazuna to willingly back down. Plus, even if Zabuza succeeds, Gato wouldn't need him anymore...he's probably not planning to pay him…'

 **'Makes sense. I bet Zabuza's services would be pretty expensive and Gato doesn't seem like the most generous person out there…'**

'Most likely…'

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted out her name, shaking her as he did; forcefully snapping her out of her inner revive. Sakura felt panic shoot through her.

'There was no way the intruders didn't hear that.'

Acting fast, Sakura pushed Naruto out of the door hastily, throwing him his bag and clothing.

"You should probably hurry Naruto! Don't stop no matter what, okay? I'll catch up soon!" with that she slammed the door in his face, yet she didn't move until she heard his footsteps going further and further away until she could barely hear them. That was a really dumb move on her side, pushing away a teammate when not even just her life was on the line, just because of her pride. She was really selfish.

' **If we just take them out it won't even matter, so get to it!'**

Letting her hand rest on her kunai pouch, Sakura made her way to the center of the house, following the noise as it grew in volume.

As she approached the living room, Sakura's eyes instantly flew to Tsunami, who was kneeling on the floor - two large men hovering over her. Sakura immediately pushed herself against the wall, deeming it too risky to attempt to go to a more camouflaged place while being in a potential enemy's field of vision.

Pushing aside the her initially plan of catching the enemy by surprise and ending everything as quickly as possible, Sakura stayed unmoving in her hiding spot. She decided to take a trick from Kakashi's bag; she'd observe the situation in order to gather the needed evidence to solidify her theory about Gato plotting to betray Zabuza.

' **Isn't that Inari?'**

Panic, fear and worry clouded her eyes as she dragged them to the edge of the room, near the second entrance, where Inner had spotted a crouched figure from her peripheral vision.

True to Inner's observation, it was Innar. Although his face was mostly hidden from her due to his position, the bucket hat and blue overalls have her enough hints - not to mention the figure's small size.

Suddenly, any calmness, level headed thinking and intelligence she had mirculously been able to maintain during her panicked state upon noticing the intruders flew out of the window. Within a split second her heart beat picked up a worryingly fast pace, she could feel the blood pumping through her veins, her thundering heart beat rung throughout her head, nausea was creeping up on her as she felt a bile rise through her throat but swolled it back down stubbornly.

Without even thinking she prepared to run towards the boy - who's presence, she dully noted, was still seemingly unnoticed by the intruders - yet at the last moment she stopped herself, digging her feet into the ground. Her sudden halt was due to one single thought that Inner had decided to add.

'What?'

'… **Maybe we shouldn't intervene'**

'...'

Feelings of betrayal, disappointment, and disgust threatened to take over Sakura, yet she held herself back; waiting for Inner to explain her words.

' **Look at Inari. He's having a breakdown.'**

'That's an expected reaction when your mother is being kidnapped right in front of you.'

' **Outer...maybe he needs to experience this. The only reason we've come so far is because of what happened – what happened at the gates…'**

'...have you gone insane?! This kid has already gone through enough! I'm not letting him lose one of the only precious people he has left!'

' **That's not what I'm saying! It doesn't have to go that far...the moment you think he's overcome his - for lack of better words- cowardness, you can step in. Alright?'**

'...'

Sakura let the idea roll around in her head for a bit. Inner did have a point, and from her viewpoint, it did look like Inari was on the verge of doing something drastic.

Plus, those guys wouldn't be able to react fast enough. They were obviously not shinobi, if they were the least they could have done by now was sense her.

'Fine. The moment of those guys looks over at Inari is the moment I'm going to step in though, I don't care if it was due to a brave act or because he tripped.'

' **Agreed**.'

With her heart clenching painfully, Sakura kept silent, despite the overwhelming urge she felt to help Inari. The last thing Sakura ever wanted was for Inari's life to controlled by unjustified guilt and sorrow - especially when she can do everything in her power to guarantee his safety throughout the process of him letting go of all the feelings of regret.

………………………………………………………...

"I'm sorry mom, I-I'm so sorry" Inari cried out between heart wrenching sobs, curling up inside himself as he cried in misery. A wave of disbelief and hopelessness crashing over him as he watched those thugs drag his mother outof the house. "I'm too _weak_."

'If only I was brave enough…'

" _Brave_ " - the word reminded him of a few people.

 _A girl with cotton candy colored hair and a heart of gold. A girl who's been through more than him, yet remains strong. A girl who shared her story with him. A girl who gave him hope. One of the bravest people he had ever met._

 _"I try to be brave, it hurts" yet she still does it._

…

" _Hey Sakura-chan."_

 _"Yes Inari-Kun?"_

 _"Why do you…why do you act brave and fight when it hurts?"_

 _"Do you remember the pain you felt when your father died?"_

 _"...yeah…"_

 _"I felt it as well when my parents died. I've never experienced pain like that before, even now, the pain of losing a loved one is the strongest pain I know of. Even with my parents gone, there are so many people that still reside in my heart, and honestly, I'm afraid to experience the pain of losing any of them. So maybe "brave" isn't the best word to describe me, hehe. I'll reach a point where I do become brave someday! But by then, I'm sure you would have beat me to it!"_

…...

 _Another man came to mind. With his unruly brown locks, his ragged clothing and shining smile. He promised to help and protect him - and he always did. He valued the lives and rights of the people he loved more than his own life. He wasn't strong, but that only made his acts of bravery all the more admirable._

 _"If you love something then protect it even if you have to put your life on the line. Protect it with both arms."_

…..

Determination croused throughout his body. He didn't care if he died today, dying would be better than having to live without his mother. He'll fight with all he has to protect his loved ones. He'll fight like his father! He'll fight like Sakura!

Without a second of hesitation he ran out of the door following the two bandits, ready to save his mother.

"STOP!" He shouted with all his might as he saw the two men forcefully pulling his mother further down the road.

The bigger of the two men moved his lips, probably daunting him but Inari couldn't register any of his words. He felt like his ears were blocked, his tongue felt heavy and his heart raced yet none of that could compare to the fear he felt at the thought of losing his mother.

"LEAVE MY MOTHER ALONE!" with that he charged at the men raising his fist and letting out the loudest battle roar he could, trying with a weak heart to ignore his mother's broken yells to stop and run away.

Without batting an eye, both bandits pulled out their swords, laughing as the prepared to strike the dumb kid down. As the kid grew closer, Tsunami began to panic, she threw her head back, struggling in her bounds as she shrieked.

"If you hurt him, I swear to – "

"Shut up woman." the shorter of the two drawled out, slamming his hand onto the back of her neck without warning, letting her now unconscious body flop to the ground.

'That's enough.'

' **Alright**.'

With her heart hammering against her chest, Sakura finally emerged from where she hid behind the entrance. She had trailed behind them when they left the house, keeping an eye on them but making sure they wouldn't be able to spot her.

Wasting no time Sakura flew through the familiar hand signs.

'Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog'

Seemingly, out of thin air an identical clone of Sakura appeared. Both Sakura and the clone immediately set off to action, both knowing the plan despite not discussing it.

Jumping into the air, the clone let out a battle cry to draw the bandits attention to her as she threw two Kuani at each bandit. The two easily reflected them. However they did so with their swords, drawing them away from the Inari just long enough for Sakura to sweep in and throw him over one shoulder before making a swift escape. She quickly summoned another clone, ordering them to carry Tsunami to safety.

Setting both Inari and Tsunami down a fair distance away from the two bandits, the clone that had been carrying Tsunami puffed away. She didn't want to waste to much chakra. Kneeling down, Sakura quickly checked up on Tsunami, feeling relief wash over her as she felt a weak but present pulse under her fingers.

Giving the shocked Inari an encouraging smile, Sakura turned around and faced the bandits, watching as they mocked the clone she had sent to distract them. They must be really unskilled and blatantly unobservant for them not to notice that it was a clone. It seemed Gato relied more on numbers and brute power than anything else...though he did have Zabuza working for him…

' **Maybe Zabuza is just a secret weapon or something. It might have also been a one time alliance or something** …'

'Maybe…'

Gato's tactics didn't matter at the moment, all that matters is that she has a big and unexpected advantage at the moment. She couldn't risk attacking one at a time, that would leave her open in case the other noticed.

As her mind worked on conjuring a plan while her clone kept them busy, her eyes were drawn to the back of their necks, everything she had recently read about pressure point rushing to her head. It was worth a shot, after all, none of the two men wore anything to protect the vulnerable spot of the back of their necks. However she had yet to actually practice the technique - the man did it to Tsunami, and she doubted he even knew what a pressure point was - she'd most likely be able to pull it off.

Just as she made up her mind, the bandits both turned around frantically only for their angry eyes to land on her.

'They finally noticed it was a distraction, huh?'

Steeling her nerves she prepared to jump into action but just as she was about to do so, her eyes met with the blood hungry eyes of one of the bandits.

The brown eyes of her opponent darkened, turning into the dark brown almost black eyes that hunted her day and night. Her blood ran cold, her pupils shrunk and she broke out in a cold sweat. Her vision narrowed and all she could focus on where the eyes of her approaching enemy and the splatters of blood that coated the dock. In the back of her mind she knew it was her own blood, the wounds on her feet had opened up once again when she ran down the stairs with Naruto. Yet, at that moment, when she caught sight of the blood, images of her parents' mangled corpses flashed

before her eyes. The whole situation just seemed so familiar.

"Sakura-chan" she duly noted that the voice was familiar but in her current state she didn't bother trying to match it a face.

"Sakura-chan!" the voice grew more frantic this time, and she could even feel a tug on her wrist, yet she remained unresponsive.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" the voice was screaming now, and the tugging had turned to shaking - forcing her to stir from her frozen state.

Feeling her vision begin to clear up, Sakura whipped her head to look at the source of the screams, only to see Inari shaking her with fear-stricken eyes. She brought her hands up to pat his head, her eyes fixtated on her opponents - who were too close to herself, Inari and Tsunami for comfort.

"Where the hell did this pink haired wench come from? It doesn't matter...I'll kill her. You finish off the little brat." The larger of the two ordered

Sakura continued patting Inari's hair reassuringly - despite how terrified she herself felt at the moment.

"Don't worry Inari-Kun! I won't let you or Tsunami get hurt." she shot him a bright smile, willing herself to believe in her own words as she met his eyes for the first time since she snapped out of her near panic attack.

Shuffling to stand in front of the younger boy, Sakura's mind raced. She couldn't really move from her spot, not if she wanted to ensure Inari and Tsunami's safety. Yet, she couldn't stop their opponents without moving...

' **We need a distraction…'**

Doing the necessary hand signs, Sakura quietly created another clone. The clone stepped in front of her, before charging at the two swordsmen. Before they could collide, the clone jumped high into the air, landing silently behind the two men.

A poof was heard and smoke exploded around the clone. The two men obviously didn't know where to look as they kept looking between Sakura and her clone before deeming the one behind them more dangerous. Hurriedly, they turned around and faced the clone, anxiously waiting for the smoke to clear up. However, when it did they were not met with the sight that they had been expecting. They didn't see the pink haired girl they...

Instead, Zabuza in all his towering height stood in her place.

The two men froze, one of them even started shaking, while they both paled considerably. Their eyes were glued onto the offending giant and any thought of a pink haired pest momentarily forgotten in their shock.

Sakura didn't waste the moment. She quickly created another shadow clone who ran to stand close behind the two tall men. Sakura decided to take the risk of leaving Inari and Tsunami unprotected - the two were occupied enough as it was. She sprinted from her spot, jumping into her clone's awaiting hands, she was thrown at the men at a fast speed. Silently praying that she was doing it right, Sakura slammed the edge of her hand on the same exact spot on both of the men's necks. Not taking any chances, she quickly propelled herself away from them using their backs as a surface.

The two men fell limply to the ground. For a few seconds Sakura kept her stance. Waiting for either of them to get up and charge at her.

Yet the moment never came.

Slightly in relief, Sakura allowed her tense shoulders to slump.

Remembering the two citizens in her care, she whirled around to check on them but before she could even fully turn to face them, a small body jumped on her, barley giving her enough time to steady herself before latching onto her, cheering and praising her while obviously trying to keep his sobbing at bay.

Slowly untangling the younger boy from her, Sakura crouched down to face the kid. Bringing her hands to his wet cheeks, she slowly whipped his tears away, momentarily she was reminded of how her mother used to do the same for her at one point but she quickly pushed that thought aside.

"I saw what you did Inari. The way you charged at those bandits and risked your life to save your mother - I'm so proud and I'm sure your mother is as well! What did I tell you? I was sure you'd be brave before me."

"I'll reach a point where I do become brave someday! But by then, I'm sure you would have beat me too it. "

Inari sniffed, looking like he wanted to complain but not knowing the right words. Not giving the boy enough time, Sakura took his hand, leading him towards his mother's sleeping body before letting go, missing the way his hand followed hers for a second. Crouching down, Sakura picked Tsuanmi's limp body up, ignoring how her sore body screamed out in denial. Looking down at Inari as she stood up.

"Come on, let's go. I need to get you guys somewhere safe."

……..

Author note: I'm finally back with another chapter! I made sure this one was long and hopefully interesting. Also, I seriously debated removing the part where Sakura starts piecing together Gato's plan to betray Zabuza, I thought it made her seem too all knowing if that makes sense. However, I figured with how she's thinking less and less about Sasuke, she has much more time to dwell and focus on other things and with her parents' death she's learned to be more causious and paranoid. Even in the canon Sakura has always been portrayed as a character with high intelligence. I just think that was overshadowed by her extreme methods of expressing her emotions, which can sometimes give the impression of someone who's led by their heart instead of their brain, which from my experience is usually a trait associated with air headed people.

Also, for some reason I feel like this chapter made absolutely no sense...I always have this fear that I'm not transfeerkng both ideas I have clearly enough when writing them down, and I don't even notice since I already have all this background info since its my idea...if that makes sense...it sound pretty dumb now that I say it out loud...oh well.

I just want to add that I wasn't able to edit this properly since I had to publish it from my phone due to our WiFi's sudden decision to stop functioning properly...

Lastly, I know saying this update was long overdue would be an understatement...life just got in the way...sorry.


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